lymphatic system

noun

: the part of the circulatory system that is concerned especially with scavenging fluids and proteins which have escaped from cells and tissues and returning them to the blood, with the phagocytic removal of cellular debris and foreign material, and with the immune response and that consists especially of lymphoid tissue, lymph, and lymph-transporting vessels

called also lymph system

Examples of lymphatic system in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This disruption of the lymphatic system can cause the extremities or the scrotum to swell tremendously. —Philip Budge, The Conversation, 5 Mar. 2026

Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, has already paid billions of dollars to settle claims from plaintiffs who say Roundup caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer that develops in the lymphatic system. —Emily Kay Votruba, EverydayHealth.com, 2 Mar. 2026

Unlike your circulatory system, which is powered by the heart, the lymphatic system doesn’t have a central pump. —Avery Newmark, AJC.com, 20 Feb. 2026

The lymphatic system helps move fluid and metabolic waste out of tissues. —Ciara Lucas, SELF, 9 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for lymphatic system

• cryptosystem
• ecosystem
• intersystem
• multisystem
• photosystem
• subsystem

Kids Definition

lymphatic system

noun

: the part of the circulatory system that consists of special tissue (as of the lymph nodes and tonsils), lymph, lymph-transporting vessels, and the thymus and spleen and is concerned especially with returning fluids and proteins back to the blood and with destroying material (as bacteria) foreign to the body

called also lymph system

Medical Definition

lymphatic system

noun

variants also lymph system or lymphoid system

: the part of the circulatory system that is concerned especially with collecting fluids and proteins that have escaped from cells and tissues and returning them to the blood, with the phagocytic removal of cellular debris and foreign material, and with immune responses, that overlaps and parallels the system of blood vessels in function and shares some constituents with it, and that consists mainly of the thymus, spleen, tonsils, lymph, lymph nodes, lymphatic vessels, lymphocytes, and bone marrow where stem cells differentiate into precursors of B cells and T cells