uterus

noun

uter·​us ˈyü-tə-rəs 

ˈyü-trəs

plural uteri ˈyü-tə-ˌrī  or uteruses

1

: a muscular organ of the female mammal for containing and usually for nourishing the young during development prior to birth

called also womb

2

: a structure in some lower animals analogous to the uterus in which eggs or young develop

Examples of uterus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Administer the misoprostol, a drug that helps empty the uterus, and wait, the instructions said. —Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 10 June 2024

After being allowed to age for a period of usually three to six days, one (or sometimes more) of the fertilized embryos, called blastocysts, is then transferred into the uterus, which will hopefully lead to implantation and a healthy pregnancy. —Gabrielle Rockson, Peoplemag, 5 June 2024

These are likely Braxton-Hicks contractions in the uterus. —Jessica Migala, Health, 26 May 2024

In other words, the court found that frozen embryos created through IVF, which exist outside of the uterus, are considered human beings. —Stephanie Innes, The Arizona Republic, 26 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin, belly, womb; probably akin to Greek hoderos belly, Sanskrit udara

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

uterus

noun

uter·​us ˈyüt-ə-rəs 

plural uteruses or uteri -ˌrī 

: the muscular organ of a female mammal in which the young develop before birth

called also womb

Medical Definition

uterus

noun

uter·​us ˈyüt-ə-rəs 

plural uteri -ˌrī  also uteruses

: an organ in female mammals for containing and usually for nourishing the young during development prior to birth that consists of a greatly modified and enlarged section of an oviduct (as in rodents and marsupials) or of the two oviducts united (as in the higher primates including humans), that has thick walls consisting of an outer serous layer, a very thick middle layer of smooth muscle, and an inner mucous layer containing numerous glands, and that during pregnancy undergoes great increase in size and change in the condition of its walls

called also womb

see cervix sense 2a, corpus uteri, endometrium, fundus sense c, myometrium, perimetrium