body cavity

noun

: a cavity in an animal body

specifically : coelom

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web First, the momma fly injects her eggs into the body cavity of the ant host. —

Christie Wilcox, Discover Magazine, 31 Oct. 2015 This prototype is maneuvering itself into a dummy’s body cavity. —

Karen Emslie, Discover Magazine, 17 June 2015 Her breastbone, rib cartilage and internal organs were also removed before the body cavity was stuffed with grasses and sewn up with horsehair. —

Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 6 Feb. 2017 This is the first time this phenomenon has been observed in an animal's bladder, but some fish and snake species can absorb objects into their intestines from their body cavity and remove them by defecation. —

Brett Israel, Discover Magazine, 7 Jan. 2010 She was ordered to take all her clothes off for a body cavity search. —

Li Yuan, New York Times, 9 Dec. 2022 Mitchell and colleagues sampled the grave soil that, during decomposition, fell into the body cavity where the intestines once resided. —

Brian Handwerk, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Aug. 2022 Specifically, a pervasive pH environment forms within the body cavity and persists until the carcass breaks down. —

Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 9 Aug. 2022 The county did not admit wrongdoing, but following the lawsuit, the jail began using body scanners and privacy curtains to conduct body cavity searches on women inmates. —

Alene Tchekmedyianstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'body cavity.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.