mucin
any of a class of glycoproteins found in saliva, gastric juice, etc., that form viscous solutions and act as lubricants or protectants on external and internal surfaces of the body.
Origin of mucin
1Other words from mucin
- mu·cin·oid, adjective
- mu·ci·nous [myoo-suh-nuhs], /ˈmyu sə nəs/, adjective
Words Nearby mucin
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use mucin in a sentence
Mucins reduce friction, making food slippery enough for us to swallow.
Cool Jobs: Saliva offers a spitting image of our health | Kathiann Kowalski | May 6, 2021 | Science News For StudentsThis skeleton was composed of hard cartilage, and arose in white fibrous tissue containing gelatin rather than mucin.
The Origin of Vertebrates | Walter Holbrook GaskellIn its chemical composition there is a marked preponderance of gelatin with only a slight amount of a mucin-body.
The Origin of Vertebrates | Walter Holbrook GaskellThis fibrillation of mucus is regarded as the result of a coagulation of its mucin, previously held in solution by an alkali.
In mucous tissue, however, there is present mucin, wholly independent of any epithelial degeneration.
The intercellular substance of cartilaginous tumors also becomes softened and converted into a liquid containing mucin.
British Dictionary definitions for mucin
/ (ˈmjuːsɪn) /
biochem any of a group of nitrogenous mucoproteins occurring in saliva, skin, tendon, etc, that produce a very viscous solution in water
Origin of mucin
1Derived forms of mucin
- mucinous, adjective
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
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