jugular vein

noun

: any of several veins of each side of the neck that return blood from the head

Examples of jugular vein in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

His jugular vein was slashed and the hallway in which his killers trapped him was so saturated with blood that detectives had to build a makeshift ramp to get to the body. —Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 20 Mar. 2025

Woodpeckers have multiple adaptations for protecting their brains from injury, but occluding their jugular veins is not one of them. —Christie Aschwanden, WIRED, 2 Oct. 2019

The infection can cause a blood clot can form in the internal jugular vein in the neck and then spread throughout the body. —Jurairat J. Molina, Verywell Health, 15 Aug. 2024

While the transection of a femoral artery is likely to cause someone’s death more quickly than a lacerated jugular vein, the proximity of the jugular vein to the brain makes the loss of blood from that vessel very dangerous, Dr. Fries found. —Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for jugular vein

• cyclopropane
• isobutane
• legerdemain
• nitromethane
• ultramontane
• abstain
• airplane
• alkane
• arcane
• arraign
• attain
• backplane

Kids Definition

jugular vein

noun

: any of several veins on each side of the neck that return blood from the head

called also jugular

Medical Definition

jugular vein

noun

: any of several veins of each side of the neck: as

a

: a vein that collects the blood from the interior of the cranium, the superficial part of the face, and the neck, runs down the neck on the outside of the internal and common carotid arteries, and unites with the subclavian vein to form the brachiocephalic vein

called also internal jugular vein

b

: a smaller and more superficial vein that collects most of the blood from the exterior of the cranium and deep parts of the face and opens into the subclavian vein

called also external jugular vein

c

: a vein that commences near the hyoid bone and joins the terminal part of the external jugular vein or the subclavian vein

called also anterior jugular vein