lymphatic system

noun

: the part of the circulatory system that is concerned especially with scavenging fluids and proteins which have escaped from cells and tissues and returning them to the blood, with the phagocytic removal of cellular debris and foreign material, and with the immune response and that consists especially of lymphoid tissue, lymph, and lymph-transporting vessels

called also lymph system

Examples of lymphatic system in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For a deeper look at how the lymphatic system itself works, this full explainer covers the complete picture. — Allison Palmer, Miami Herald, 30 June 2026

The lymphatic system collects that fluid from your tissues, filters it and returns it to your bloodstream. — Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 29 June 2026

The lymphatic system’s two core jobs are reabsorbing excess fluid and coordinating how immune cells move through the body, and neither works without the other, according to a 2025 paper in the Annual Review of Physiology. — Allison Palmer, Charlotte Observer, 29 June 2026

For a deeper look at how the lymphatic system works from the inside out, this guide covers the complete picture. — Allison Palmer, Kansas City Star, 29 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for lymphatic system

• cryptosystem
• ecosystem
• intersystem
• multisystem
• photosystem
• subsystem

Kids Definition

lymphatic system

noun

: the part of the circulatory system that consists of special tissue (as of the lymph nodes and tonsils), lymph, lymph-transporting vessels, and the thymus and spleen and is concerned especially with returning fluids and proteins back to the blood and with destroying material (as bacteria) foreign to the body

called also lymph system

Medical Definition

lymphatic system

noun

variants also lymph system or lymphoid system

: the part of the circulatory system that is concerned especially with collecting fluids and proteins that have escaped from cells and tissues and returning them to the blood, with the phagocytic removal of cellular debris and foreign material, and with immune responses, that overlaps and parallels the system of blood vessels in function and shares some constituents with it, and that consists mainly of the thymus, spleen, tonsils, lymph, lymph nodes, lymphatic vessels, lymphocytes, and bone marrow where stem cells differentiate into precursors of B cells and T cells