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basal body

American  

noun

Cell Biology.
  1. a cylindrical organelle, within the cytoplasm of flagellated and ciliated cells, that contains microtubules and forms the base of a flagellum or cilium: identical in internal structure to a centriole.


Etymology

Origin of basal body

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Six years ago, the Health Resources and Services Administration added to its ACA guidelines the fertility-awareness method, which is used to help women avoid pregnancy or become pregnant by tracking markers such as basal body temperature, cervical mucus and hormone levels.

From Washington Times

Meanwhile, I monitored my basal body temperature, weighing motherhood against the seriousness of our courtship.

From Salon

Some offer to track additional data including basal body temperature, sleep patterns, menstrual pain and sexual activity, which can provide further clues - although there have been concerns around what else this data can be used for by the developers of the app.

From BBC

Right now, the app is only cleared to be used as birth control with a basal body temperature thermometer, which tracks smaller temperature increments than a regular thermometer.

From The Verge

Many FABMs do so by tracking physical signs of hormonal shifts, including changes in cervical fluid and a spike in basal body temperature.

From Scientific American