inoculating

in·oc·u·late  (-nky-lt)

tr.v. in·oc·u·lat·ed, in·oc·u·lat·ing, in·oc·u·lates

1. To introduce a serum, vaccine, or antigenic substance into (the body of a person or animal), especially to produce or boost immunity to a specific disease.

2. To communicate a disease to (a living organism) by transferring its causative agent into the organism.

3. To implant microorganisms or infectious material into (a culture medium).

4. To safeguard as if by inoculation; protect.

5. To introduce an idea or attitude into the mind of.

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[Middle English inoculaten, to graft a scion, from Latin inoculre, inocult- : in-, in; see in-² + oculus, eye, bud; see ok^w- in Indo-European roots.]

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in·ocu·lative adj.

in·ocu·lator n.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

inoculating - the act of protecting against disease by introducing a vaccine into the body to induce immunity; "doctors examined the recruits but nurses did the inoculating" vaccinating protection - the activity of protecting someone or something; "the witnesses demanded police protection" ring vaccination - administering vaccine only to people in close contact with an isolated infected patient; prevents the spread of a highly infectious disease by surrounding the patient with a ring of immunization variolation, variolization - the obsolete process of inoculating a susceptible person with material taken from a vesicle of a person who has smallpox