gastric mill

American  

noun

Zoology.

1. a gizzard in decapod crustaceans, as lobsters, crabs, and shrimps, having an arrangement of teeth and small bones for grinding food and bristles for filtering small particles.

2. gizzard.

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Etymology

Origin of gastric mill

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Like its fellow enantiornithines, and unlike modern birds, it does not appear to have a digestive organ called a gizzard, or gastric mill, that helped it crush up its food.

From Science Daily • Mar. 5, 2024

Another subcircuit pulsates the gastric mill, a muscular pouch lined with chitinous teeth that help break down food.

From Scientific American • Oct. 2, 2012

In the presence of certain neuromodulators, a neuron that contributes to the pyloric subcircuit might switch teams, joining the gastric mill subcircuit instead by changing the tempo at which it fires.

From Scientific American • Oct. 2, 2012