cerebrospinal fluid

noun

: a colorless liquid that is comparable to serum, is secreted from the blood into the lateral ventricles of the brain, and serves chiefly to maintain uniform pressure within the brain and spinal cord

Examples of cerebrospinal fluid in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For years, the most promising treatments were antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), which are delivered by recurring injections into a patient’s cerebrospinal fluid. —Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 30 Sep. 2025

According to the Cleveland Clinic, LMD is an incurable condition in which cancer cells spread from an advanced cancer to the cerebrospinal fluid and the membranes around the brain and spinal cord. —Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 28 Sep. 2025

The cells in your body are permeable to water, so if the water-salt balance of the surrounding fluid—blood, lymph, or cerebrospinal fluid, for example—is outside its healthy range, cells can swell or shrink, shrivel, or potentially burst. —Dan Samorodnitsky, Wired News, 28 Sep. 2025

The disease occurs when an advanced cancer spreads from another part of the body to the cerebrospinal fluid and leptomeninges, according to the clinic. —James Powel, USA Today, 25 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1828, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for cerebrospinal fluid

• druid

Kids Definition

cerebrospinal fluid

noun

ce·​re·​bro·​spi·​nal fluid

sə-ˌrē-brō-ˌspīn-ᵊl-

: a colorless fluid that occupies the cavities of the brain and spinal cord and the space between these and the membranes surrounding them

Medical Definition

cerebrospinal fluid

noun

: a liquid that is comparable to serum but contains less dissolved material, that is secreted from the blood into the lateral ventricles of the brain by the choroid plexus, circulates through the ventricles to the spaces between the meninges about the brain and spinal cord, and is resorbed into the blood through the subarachnoid sinuses, and that serves chiefly to maintain uniform pressure within the brain and spinal cord

called also spinal fluid

compare lymph