ventral

adjective

ven·tral | \ˈven-trəl

Definition of ventral

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : of or relating to the belly : abdominal

b : being or located near or on the anterior or lower surface of an animal opposite the back

2 : being or located on the lower surface of a dorsiventral plant structure

ventral

noun

Definition of ventral (Entry 2 of 2)

: a ventral part (such as a scale or fin)

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Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Its gray-blue flanks were ticked with cream flecks and its ventral fins were tinged with orange. — Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Smith: There's no point in rushing when there's a big laker on the line," 28 Apr. 2018 Our study evaluated 333 hospital inpatients discharged home after six different types of general surgery operations: bariatric procedures; operations on the stomach, liver, pancreas, and colon; and ventral hernia repair. — Richard J. Barth, STAT, "Trump wants to reduce opioid prescriptions by one-third. We can start now," 30 Mar. 2018 The other pathway makes use of networks located in the parietal and ventral regions that, among other things, are involved in autobiographical memory and the discovery of relevant visual stimuli. — Nicola Ballhausen, Scientific American, "Foresee and Forget: How to Remember the Future," 7 Mar. 2018 Three brain areas work together to stop body movement: the dorsal part of the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (red), the ventral part of the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (blue) and the bilateral frontal eye fields (green). — Ben Tinker, CNN, "How to hit your brain's 'kill switch' -- before it's too late," 8 Dec. 2017 And that portion of their brains was also showing greater functional connectivity, communicating more readily with another part of the brain, the ventral striatum, known as the brain’s reward center. — Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times, "Giving Proof," 14 Sep. 2017 The coins had collected in a heavy ball that cracked the turtle’s ventral shell, leading to an acute infection. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "The Sea Turtle That Ate 915 Coins Has Died," 21 Mar. 2017 It's produced in the ventral tegmental part of the brain and is released when a person expects or receives a reward of any kind. — Peter Dunn, Indianapolis Star, "Pete the Planner: Money-related mental illness is no joking matter," 23 Aug. 2017 The farm fish will also potentially have damaged or eroded dorsal, ventral and tail fins from their captivity in nets. — The Oregonian/oregonlive, OregonLive.com, "Paul Ryan visits Oregon, preaches tax reform at Intel," 23 Aug. 2017

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Return as of 5/13/17 is 68 hatchery adult, 2 natural origin, 12 Cowlitz origin (ventral clipped), and 0 Lewis origin. — Mark Yuasa, The Seattle Times, "Plenty of choices to catch fish in Columbia River region," 17 May 2017

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

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The first known use of ventral was in 1739

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More Definitions for ventral

ventral

adjective

ven·tral | \ˈven-trəl

Kids Definition of ventral

: of, relating to, or being on or near the surface of the body that in human beings is the front but in most animals is the lower surface a fish's ventral fins