1. SYN: vegetable (2). 2. Denoting the vital functions common to plants and animals, such as respiration, metabolism, growth, generation, etc., distinguished from those peculiar to animals, such as conscious sensation and the mental faculties.
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veg·e·tal 'vej-ət-əl adj
1) VEGETABLE
2) of or relating to the vegetal pole of an egg or to that part of an egg from which the endoderm normally develops <\vegetal blastomeres>
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veg·e·tal (vejґə-təl) vegetative (defs. 1, 2, and 3).Medical dictionary. 2011.