Inoculate

v. t. [imp. & p. p. INOCULATED; p. pr. & vb. n. INOCULATING.] [Lat. inoculare, inoculatum, prefix in and oculare, to furnish with eyes, from oculus, an eye; Fr. inoculer, Sp. inocular, It. inoculare, inocchiare.]

1Sense 1. To bud; to insert, as the bud of a tree or plant in another tree or plant, for the purpose of growth on the new stock.

2Sense 2. To insert a foreign bud into; as, to inoculate a tree.

3Sense 3. (Med.) To communicate, as a disease to a person by inserting infectious matter in his skin or flesh; as, to inoculate a person with the matter of small-pox.

v. i. 1. To graft by inserting buds. 2. To communicate disease by inserting infectious matter.