small intestine

noun

: the narrow part of the intestine that lies between the stomach and colon, consists of duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, secretes digestive enzymes, and is the chief site of the digestion of food into small molecules which are absorbed into the body

Examples of small intestine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

At North Carolina State University, a team led by microbial ecologist Erin McKenney and forensic anthropologist Amanda Hale conducted a landmark study measuring the lengths of the small intestines in cadavers for the first time since 1885. —Starre Vartan, CNN Money, 7 July 2025

The appendix is a small finger-sized tubular organ located at the beginning of the large intestine where the small intestine ends, in the right lower side of the abdomen. —Lauryn Higgins, Flow Space, 3 July 2025

Its hardy, dormant cysts can contaminate food and water, survive stomach acid, and break open in the small intestine. —Jay Kakade may 24, New Atlas, 24 May 2025

And the test had identified malignancies for which no standard screening exists: cancers of the small intestine, the pancreas, and a rare spindle-cell neoplasm, a form of bone cancer—all detected at a stage when surgical removal was still possible. —Siddhartha Mukherjee, New Yorker, 16 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1767, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for small intestine

• clandestine
• progestin

Kids Definition

small intestine

noun

: the long narrow part of the intestine between the stomach and the colon in which food is mostly digested, from which digested food is absorbed into the body, and which consists of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum

Medical Definition

small intestine

noun

: the part of the intestine that lies between the stomach and colon, consists of duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, secretes digestive enzymes, and is the chief site of the absorption of digested nutrients

called also small bowel