uterus

noun

uter·​us ˈyü-tə-rəs 

ˈyü-trəs

plural uteri ˈyü-tə-ˌrī  or uteruses

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 other animals (such as salamanders and nematodes) analogous to the mammalian uterus in which eggs or young develop

Examples of uterus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In this group, fetal exposure was associated with smaller uteruses at puberty and smaller ovaries during adolescence. — Nancy Lapid, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2026

The second drug, misoprostol, taken 24 to 48 hours later, causes the uterus to contract and dilates the cervix, which will expel the embryo. — Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 9 Sep. 2026

Such deaths typically occur in the first trimester, after a pregnancy fails to properly implant in the uterus and begins to develop elsewhere, most commonly inside a fallopian tube. — Andrea Suozzo, ProPublica, 9 Sep. 2026

The painful condition, which causes tissue similar to the lining of the uterus to grow on other parts of the body, afflicts 1 in 10 women worldwide. — Laura Ungar, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin, belly, womb; probably akin to Greek hoderos belly, Sanskrit udara

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

uterus

noun

uter·​us ˈyüt-ə-rəs 

plural uteruses or uteri -ˌrī 

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

called also womb

Medical Definition

uterus

noun

uter·​us ˈyüt-ə-rəs 

plural uteri -ˌrī  also uteruses

: 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

see cervix sense 2a, corpus uteri, endometrium, fundus sense c, myometrium, perimetrium