apocrine gland
noun
: a gland and especially a sweat gland that secretes a viscous fluid into a hair follicle (as in the armpit or groin), is lined with a single layer of usually columnar cells, and typically does not become active until puberty
Note: It is now understood that apocrine glands produce a secretion which lacks cellular material and causes little damage to the secreting cell. While this secretion pattern is more closely related to the merocrine than the apocrine type, these glands continue to be referred to as apocrine glands because of their uniquely characteristic large secretory lumen and milky secretion.
compare eccrine glandExamples of apocrine gland in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
For coffee and tea drinkers, Beeson noted that caffeine can stimulate the apocrine glands, which produces sweat in the armpits and groin, potentially resulting in stronger body odor.
—
Angelica Stabile, FOXNews.com, 10 Nov. 2025
But, unlike most glands, including the apocrine glands in human armpits, they are not connected to the secretions of the body that houses them, and so might be better described as pockets.
—Literary Hub, 19 Sep. 2025
This milkier sweat is produced by apocrine glands, which open into hair follicles, which in turn provide sweat’s path to the skin’s surface.
—Carrie Bell, Outside, 17 Aug. 2025
Called apocrine glands, they are primarily concentrated in the armpits and around the groin.
—Amanda Schupak, CNN, 12 Jan. 2025
Bacteria Your body has two major types of sweat glands—eccrine and apocrine glands.
—Heidi Cope, Health, 23 Dec. 2024
So yes, sometimes your salty floods do have an odor to them, but the vast majority of human odor comes from these apocrine glands that are in your armpits.
Klimek: Does sweat play a role in how humans perceive one another?
—Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 July 2024
Our closer relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas, bear roughly two eccrine for every one apocrine gland.
—Jeff Goodell, Time, 6 July 2023
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Angelica Stabile, FOXNews.com, 10 Nov. 2025
But, unlike most glands, including the apocrine glands in human armpits, they are not connected to the secretions of the body that houses them, and so might be better described as pockets.
—Literary Hub, 19 Sep. 2025
This milkier sweat is produced by apocrine glands, which open into hair follicles, which in turn provide sweat’s path to the skin’s surface.
—Carrie Bell, Outside, 17 Aug. 2025
Called apocrine glands, they are primarily concentrated in the armpits and around the groin.
—Amanda Schupak, CNN, 12 Jan. 2025
Bacteria Your body has two major types of sweat glands—eccrine and apocrine glands.
—Heidi Cope, Health, 23 Dec. 2024
So yes, sometimes your salty floods do have an odor to them, but the vast majority of human odor comes from these apocrine glands that are in your armpits.
Klimek: Does sweat play a role in how humans perceive one another?
—Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 July 2024
Our closer relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas, bear roughly two eccrine for every one apocrine gland.
—Jeff Goodell, Time, 6 July 2023
Cite this Entry
“Apocrine gland.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apocrine%20gland. Accessed 25 Nov. 2025.
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