{ } a. [ See Vagina. ] Invested with, or as if with, a sheath; as, a vaginate stem, or one invested by the tubular base of a leaf. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL. ] (Zool.) A tribe of birds comprising the sheathbills. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Vaginae [ L. vagina a scabbard or sheath. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Anat.) (a) A sheath; a theca; as, the vagina of the portal vein. (b) Specifically, the canal which leads from the uterus to the external orifice of the genital canal, or to the cloaca. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) The terminal part of the oviduct in insects and various other invertebrates. See Illust., of Spermatheca. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Bot.) The basal expansion of certain leaves, which inwraps the stem; a sheath. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Arch.) The shaft of a terminus, from which the bust or figure seems to issue or arise. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. vaginal. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Of or pertaining to a vagina; resembling a vagina, or sheath; thecal; as, a vaginal synovial membrane; the vaginal process of the temporal bone. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the vagina of the genital canal; as, the vaginal artery. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. vaginant. See Vagina. ] Serving to invest, or sheathe; sheathing. [ 1913 Webster ]

Vaginant leaf (Bot.), a leaf investing the stem or branch by its base, which has the form of a tube. [ 1913 Webster ]