The process of absorbing; specifically:
- In physiology, it refers to the movement of liquids and solutes into cells by way of diffusion or osmosis.
- In chemistry, it refers to the drawing of a gas or liquid into the pores of a permeable solid.
- In immunology, it refers to a process in which an antigen or antibody is used to pull an analogous antigen or antibody out of a solution.
Compare adsorption.
From the BioTech Dictionary at http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/. For further information see the BioTech homenode.