cervix
Americannoun
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cervixes,
plural
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cervices
plural
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the neck, especially the back part.
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any necklike part, especially the constricted lower end of the uterus.
noun
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the technical name for neck
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any necklike part of an organ, esp the lower part of the uterus that extends into the vagina
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of cervix
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin cervīx “neck, nape, uterine cervix”
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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.
See Examples For:
They found evidence of EXO1 overproduction in multiple cancer types, including tumors of the breast, skin, liver and cervix, consistent with earlier research.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 20, 2026
Her treatment involved the removal of lymph nodes in her abdomen, although surgeons were able to preserve a small part of her cervix, giving her a chance of becoming pregnant.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Three doctors gathered and told the couple that the longer Waldorf’s cervix remained open and her uterus exposed to bacteria, the higher her risk of developing a life-threatening infection.
From Salon ● May 27, 2026
Misoprostol was initially approved by the FDA for stomach ulcers and is routinely prescribed off-label to induce labor, treat postpartum hemorrhage, and prepare the cervix for IUD insertion.
From Slate ● May 18, 2026
Mary always stared at them while she ate, just as she was doing when Gey walked into the lab carrying the pieces of Henrietta’s cervix.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
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People in their 20s with cervices need Pap smears every three years, although the interval may be shorter if you’ve had abnormal results in the past.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 16, 2022
Currently, the vast majority of HPV diagnoses in people with cervices are found via Pap smears that analyze tissue scraped from the cervix itself.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 31, 2021
This is the generation of American women that reinvented feminism, wrote Our Bodies, Ourselves, and learned to examine their cervices with mirrors.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Next time Niobe turned up was at memorial cervices for Bloodgood H. Cutter, "the Long Island Farmer Poet."
From Time Magazine Archive
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This results in a double uterus, which may also have two cervixes and two vaginal canals.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2025
She said the campaign team has heard from many within the LGBTQ+ community, particularly from those who have cervixes but do not identify as women.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2023
Whole sets of teeth, tonsils, cervixes and colons were lost or mutilated in this pursuit.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 3, 2022
Hern proved them wrong, pioneering new approaches to make later abortions safer, including dilating cervixes with Japanese seaweed tubes called laminaria.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2022
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.