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Yeast

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yeast

[yeest] ,
–noun
1. any of various small, single-celled fungi of the phylum Ascomycota that reproduce by fission or budding, the daughter cells often remaining attached, and that are capable of fermenting carbohydrates into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
2. any of several yeasts of the genus Saccharomyces, used in brewing alcoholic beverages, as a leaven in baking breads, and in pharmacology as a source of vitamins and proteins. Compare bottom yeast, brewer's yeast, top yeast.
3. spume; foam.
4. ferment; agitation.
5. something that causes ferment or agitation.
–verb (used without object)
6. to ferment.
7. to be covered with froth.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME ye(e)st (n.), OE gist, gyst; c. D gist, G Gischt yeast, foam, ON jastr yeast, Gk zestós boiled, Skt yásati (it) boils


yeastless, adjective
yeastlike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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yeast   (yēst)   
n.  
    1. Any of various unicellular fungi of the genus Saccharomyces, especially S. cerevisiae, reproducing by budding and from ascospores and capable of fermenting carbohydrates.

    2. Any of various similar fungi.

  1. Froth consisting of yeast cells together with the carbon dioxide they produce in the process of fermentation, present in or added to fruit juices and other substances in the production of alcoholic beverages.

  2. A powdered or compressed commercial preparation, having yeast cells and inert material such as meal and used chiefly as a leavening agent or as a dietary supplement.

  3. Foam; froth.

  4. An agent of ferment or activity: political agitators who are the yeast of revolution.

intr.v.   yeast·ed, yeast·ing, yeasts
  1. To ferment.

  2. To froth or foam.


[Middle English yeest, from Old English gist; see yes- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

yeast 
O.E. gist "yeast," common W.Gmc. source (cf. M.H.G. gest, Ger. Gischt "foam, froth," O.H.G. jesan, Ger. gären "to ferment"), from PIE *jes- "boil, foam, froth" (cf. Skt. yasyati "boils, seethes," Gk. zein "to boil," Welsh ias "seething, foaming").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: yeast
Pronunciation: 'yEst
Function: noun
1 a : a yellowish surface froth or sediment that occurs especially in saccharine liquids (asfruit juices) in which it promotes alcoholic fermentation, consists largely of cells of a fungus of the family Saccharomycetaceae, and is used especially in the making of alcoholic liquors and as aleaven in baking b : a commercial product containing yeast plants in a moist or dry medium
2 a : a minute fungus (especially Saccharomyces cerevisiae) thatis present and functionally active in yeast, usually has little or no mycelium, and reproduces by budding b : any of various similar fungi (especially orders Endomycetales andMoniliales) —yeast·like /-"lIk/ adjective
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

yeast (yēst)
n.

  1. Any of various unicellular fungi of the genus Saccharomyces, especially S. cerevisiae, reproducing by budding and from ascospores and capable of fermenting carbohydrates.

  2. Any of various similar fungi.

  3. A commercial preparation in either powdered or compressed form containing yeast cells and inert material and used especially as a leavening agent or as a dietary supplement.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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