verb (used with object), oc·clud·ed, oc·clud·ing.
- to close, shut, or stop up (a passage, opening, etc.).
- to shut in, out, or off.
- Physical Chemistry. (of certain metals and other solids) to incorporate (gases and other foreign substances), as by absorption or adsorption.
verb (used without object), oc·clud·ed, oc·clud·ing.
- Dentistry. to shut or close, with the cusps of the opposing teeth of the upper and lower jaws fitting together.
- Meteorology. to form an occluded front.
verb
- (tr) to block or stop up (a passage or opening); obstruct
- (tr) to prevent the passage of
- (tr) chem (of a solid) to incorporate (a substance) by absorption or adsorption
- meteorol to form or cause to form an occluded front
- dentistry to produce or cause to produce occlusion, as in chewing
v.1590s, from Latin occludere (past participle occlusus) “shut up, close up,” from ob “against, up” (see ob-) + claudere “to shut, close” (see close (v.)). Of teeth, 1888 (also cf. occlusion). Related: Occluded; occluding. v.
- To cause to become closed; obstruct.
- To prevent the passage of.
- To bring together the upper and lower teeth in proper alignment for chewing.
- To enclose a virus, as in an inclusion body.
- In chemistry, to absorb and retain gases and other substances.
- To force air upward from the Earth’s surface, as when a cold front overtakes and undercuts a warm front.