lacteal

[ lak-tee-uhl ]
See synonyms for lacteal on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. pertaining to, consisting of, or resembling milk; milky.

  2. Anatomy. conveying or containing chyle.

noun
  1. Anatomy. any of the minute lymphatic vessels that convey chyle from the small intestine to the thoracic duct.

Origin of lacteal

1
1625–35; <Latin lacte(us) milky (see lacteous) + -al1

Other words from lacteal

  • lac·te·al·ly, adverb
  • non·lac·te·al, adjective
  • non·lac·te·al·ly, adverb
  • pre·lac·te·al, adjective

Words Nearby lacteal

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use lacteal in a sentence

  • Human milk is sterile when secreted, but derives a few bacteria from the lacteal ducts.

    A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
  • Make an incision in its bark, wherever you will, and it exudes a white lacteal fluid, which hardens on exposure to the air.

    The Desert World | Arthur Mangin
  • The general public subscribes to Mudie, and has its intellectual, like its lacteal sustenance, sent round to it in carts.

    Obiter Dicta | Augustine Birrell
  • I took a seven-year course in the gentle art of acquiring the lacteal fluid.

    Fore! | Charles Emmett Van Loan
  • And there isn't anything I like better when camping out than plenty of hen fruit, together with the lacteal fluid from the cows.

    Chums of the Camp Fire | Lawrence J. Leslie

British Dictionary definitions for lacteal

lacteal

/ (ˈlæktɪəl) /


adjective
  1. of, relating to, or resembling milk

  2. (of lymphatic vessels) conveying or containing chyle

noun
  1. any of the lymphatic vessels conveying chyle from the small intestine to the thoracic duct

Origin of lacteal

1
C17: from Latin lacteus of milk, from lac milk

Derived forms of lacteal

  • lacteally, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012