cerebrospinal fluid

noun

: a colorless liquid that is comparable to serum, is secreted from the blood into the lateral ventricles of the brain, and serves chiefly to maintain uniform pressure within the brain and spinal cord

Examples of cerebrospinal fluid in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Here’s what happens when your cerebrospinal fluid stops working. —Danielle Wilhour, The Conversation, 28 May 2025

According to Cleveland Clinic, normal pressure hydrocephalus is a condition that occurs when cerebrospinal fluid builds up inside the skull, pressing on the brain. —Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 23 May 2025

The samples were evaluated using the blood test, and the results were compared with the results from patients’ PET scans or separate testing using cerebrospinal fluid samples, such as from spinal taps. —Jacqueline Howard, CNN Money, 16 May 2025

Besides PET scans, the only similar diagnostic tool involves cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis, which requires challenging and invasive lumbar punctures, or spinal taps. —Bronwyn Thompson, New Atlas, 20 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1828, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for cerebrospinal fluid

• druid

Kids Definition

cerebrospinal fluid

noun

ce·​re·​bro·​spi·​nal fluid

sə-ˌrē-brō-ˌspīn-ᵊl-

: a colorless fluid that occupies the cavities of the brain and spinal cord and the space between these and the membranes surrounding them

Medical Definition

cerebrospinal fluid

noun

: a liquid that is comparable to serum but contains less dissolved material, that is secreted from the blood into the lateral ventricles of the brain by the choroid plexus, circulates through the ventricles to the spaces between the meninges about the brain and spinal cord, and is resorbed into the blood through the subarachnoid sinuses, and that serves chiefly to maintain uniform pressure within the brain and spinal cord

called also spinal fluid

compare lymph