uterus

noun

uter·us | \ˈyü-tə-rəs,

ˈyü-trəs\

plural uteri\ˈyü-tə-ˌrī

\ or uteruses

Definition of uterus

1 : a muscular organ of the female mammal for containing and usually for nourishing the young during development prior to birth

— called also womb

2 : a structure in some lower animals analogous to the uterus in which eggs or young develop

Examples of uterus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

No laboring at home, because my uterus might rupture. — Meaghan O'connell, The Cut, "This Time, I’m Not Afraid to Give Birth," 9 Apr. 2018 Thomas's uterus ruptured and Isaiah ended up in her abdominal cavity. — Kristine Phillips, Washington Post, "His brain-damaged toddler is about to die. But this father isn’t allowed to say goodbye.," 23 Feb. 2018 Her uterus had ruptured, and doctors weren't able to get her son out in time to prevent serious brain damage from lack of oxygen. — Ashley Oerman, Cosmopolitan, "How This Woman's Baby Was Born Into Her Abdominal Cavity, Then Saved By a 30-Second Surgery," 28 Dec. 2017 During an interview with Tatler, the actress revealed that her first pregnancy at 23 was ectopic, meaning that the fertilized egg was implanted outside the uterus. — Emma Dibdin, Harper's BAZAAR, "Nicole Kidman Opens Up About The “Massive Grief” Of Having A Miscarriage," 1 June 2018 Ishaq had her ovaries and uterus removed last year, bringing her risk of ovarian cancer close to zero. — Soumya Karlamangla, latimes.com, "Not quite healthy, not quite sick, women at risk of hereditary cancer can 'fall through the medical cracks'," 8 Apr. 2018 In the early days of the technique, doctors cut through a mother's uterus only when a fetus' problems were bound to be lethal, Lilligard says. — The Washington Post, OregonLive.com, "Some people do better exercising at a low-intensity pace," 29 Apr. 2018 There wasn’t any long-term damage to my uterus but my husband decided to get a vasectomy. — Fox News, "Emotional moment mom meets her baby for first time after she went into septic shock during labor," 10 July 2018 In order to retrieve eggs, the researchers put the animal under anesthesia, then used an ultrasound machine to guide a long needle into her uterus, puncture her follicles and dislodge the eggs. — Deborah Netburn, latimes.com, "How IVF might save northern white rhinos, the world's most endangered species," 4 July 2018

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

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about uterus

Dictionary Entries near uterus

Statistics for uterus

Last Updated

21 Oct 2018

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for uterus

The first known use of uterus was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for uterus

uterus

noun

English Language Learners Definition of uterus

medical : the organ in women and some female animals in which babies develop before birth

See the full definition for uterus in the English Language Learners Dictionary

uterus

noun

uter·us | \ˈyü-tə-rəs

plural uteruses or uteri\ˈyü-tə-ˌrī \

Kids Definition of uterus

: the organ of a female mammal in which the young develop before birth

uterus

noun

uter·us | \ˈyüt-ə-rəs

plural uteri\-ˌrī

\ also uteruses

Medical Definition of uterus

: an organ in female mammals for containing and usually for nourishing the young during development prior to birth that consists of a greatly modified and enlarged section of an oviduct (as in rodents and marsupials) or of the two oviducts united (as in the higher primates including humans), that has thick walls consisting of an outer serous layer, a very thick middle layer of smooth muscle, and an inner mucous layer containing numerous glands, and that during pregnancy undergoes great increase in size and change in the condition of its walls

— called also womb