Dictionary

micromanipulation en · NOUN

Etymology

From micro- + manipulation.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The manipulation of objects too small to be seen with the unaided eye.
   • The first studies on combined micromanipulation of oocytes and embryos appeared around 100 years later. 2019, Zsolt Peter Nagy, Alex C. Varghese, Ashok Agarwal, In Vitro Fertilization, page 450:
   • Micromanipulations are performed in a Petri dish chamber. 2012, A. Kuliev, Yury Verlinsky, Preimplantation Genetics, page 274:
   • From then on complete micromanipulation by light was possible with one single piece of equipment. The last decade of this millenium^([sic]) is now witnessing a dramatic expansion of the field. 2012 December 6, Karl Otto Greulich, Micromanipulation by Light in Biology and Medicine: The Laser Microbeam and Optical Tweezers, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 4:
   • Moreover, some examples of ex vivo micromanipulation in the physiological environment are reported in the literature—for example, the micro-scale compression of hydrogel microcapsules [15] or the micromanipulation of a micro blood vessel and a cyanobacteria cell [16]. 2019, Nicola Pio Belfiore, Micromanipulation, page 141:
2. (countable, uncountable) A very small adjustment; a tweak.
   • Seen in this light, Ruhr is a digital film that posits documentary uncertainty as its principle as Benning's digital micromanipulations create the temporal ambiguity of the durational image. However, Benning's micromanipulations suggest that documentary uncertainty always lies at the heart of documentary practices and their claiming of the real, whether potochemical or digital. 2022, Jihoon Kim, Documentary's Expanded Fields:
   • Finally, I articulated my plan. I would make silly minor adjustments—removing an extra space in between sentences, abbreviating the journal titles, abbreviating a name where it was actually spelled out, rewording something ever so slightly—rather than try to rewrite the paper, which at that point was indeed impossible. […] They barely noticed the micromanipulations. 2014, John Carvalho, The Crisis of Our Time:
   • Links with concretism are evident in the geometry of the song and in the micromanipulations of words, splits, and pairings, which multiply their suggestions. 1996, Charles A. Perrone, Seven Faces: Brazilian Poetry Since Modernism, page 109:
   • I will approach this topic by adopting a global history approach which examines the connectivity and diversity of theatre histories around the world, wuch as between the ancient Greek orchestra and Noh theatre, or from Roman rhetoric to Indian acting theory; as well as a scalar approach, attentive to the interdependence between big and small examples, ranging from medieval processions and grand Renaissance spectacle to the micromanipulations of the puppet. 2021, Rachel Fensham, Theory for Theatre Studies: Movement:
3. (countable, uncountable) A subtly manipulative act; An interpersonal ploy to influence others without the direct use of power.
   • One of the consequences of this environment is that students rely upon micromanipulation and gender stereotypes. The following example highlights how female undergraduates by manipulating the stereotype that women cannot understand physics ensured that their male professor and teaching assistant completed the laboratory assignment for them. 2012, W.W. Cobern, Socio-Cultural Perspectives on Science Education, page 109:
   • In all these instances, you may be angry with your partner (or ex/soon-to-be ex) but their micromanipulations reawaken your empathy, meaning you turn instead to worry or regret. 2020 November 25, Anna Breach, “Micromanipulation: The Covert Tactic That Narcissists Use in Arguments to Reassert Control”, in Stylist:
   • In an earlier chapter we examined the way in which women are forced into micromanipulation — that is, interpersonal, intimate influence —to offset men's macromanipulation of the institutional structures and resources of society. 1984, Jean Lipman-Blumen, Gender Roles and Power, page 91:
   • The statement "So-and-so is idiotic, and anyone who says otherwise is also idiotic." is a micromanipulation in at least the sense of the intent of isolating the dissidents and other people from each other.
   • . From necessity, the powerless use micromanipulation, while the powerful engage in macromanipulation, the process of influence at the societal or social policy level. 2009, Mary Uhl-Bien, Raj Pillai, Michelle C. Bligh, Follower-Centered Perspectives on Leadership, page 15:

Forms

Relateds

micromanipulate · micromanipulator