a larva of an insect with incomplete metamorphosis (as the dragonfly or mayfly)
(classical mythology) a minor nature goddess usually depicted as a beautiful maiden; "the ancient Greeks believed that nymphs inhabited forests and bodies of water"
a piece of land prepared for playing a game; "the home crowd cheered when Princeton took the field"
the circumstances under which competition occurs; "the government's objective is to insure a genuinely level playing field for American industry and commerce in Europe"
soften, usually by steeping in liquid, and cause to disintegrate as a result; "macerate peaches"; "the gizzards macerates the food in the digestive system"
become soft or separate and disintegrate as a result of excessive soaking; "the tissue macerated in the water"
a small usually single-celled asexual reproductive body produced by many nonflowering plants and fungi and some bacteria and protozoans and that are capable of developing into a new individual without sexual fusion; "a sexual spore is formed after the fusion of gametes"
(microbiology) single-celled or noncellular spherical or spiral or rod-shaped organisms lacking chlorophyll that reproduce by fission; important as pathogens and for biochemical properties; taxonomy is difficult; often considered plants