mucus
[myoo-kuh s]
- a viscous, slimy mixture of mucins, water, electrolytes, epithelial cells, and leukocytes that is secreted by glands lining the nasal, esophageal, and other body cavities and serves primarily to protect and lubricate surfaces.
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Origin of mucus
1655–65; < Latin mūcus snot; akin to Greek myktḗr nose, mýxa slime
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for mucus
Contemporary Examples
It would be similar to smoking, only less…and you might get a chronic cough, or raise a little [mucus].
Plummer found the film so saccharine that he even developed a nickname for it: “The Sound of Mucus.”
Jim Carrey’s Rant Against ‘Kick-Ass 2’ and 13 Other Stars Who Hate Their Own FilmsMarlow Stern
June 25, 2013
The announcer said brightly, “She is completely effaced right now, and she just lost her mucus plug.”
Historical Examples
Mucus and pus (matter such as comes from an abscess) may also be discharged.
It is the office of this fluid to moisten and thin the mucus of the nose.
Popular EducationIra Mayhew
Water precipitates pus from such a solution, but does not mucus.
Zoonomia, Vol. IIErasmus Darwin
The mucus of the cellular membrane is increased by blisters and sinapisms.
Zoonomia, Vol. IIErasmus Darwin
The mucus of the bladder is increased by cantharides, and perhaps by oil of turpentine.
Zoonomia, Vol. IIErasmus Darwin
mucus
- the slimy protective secretion of the mucous membranes, consisting mainly of mucin
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin: nasal secretions; compare mungere to blow the nose; related to Greek muxa mucus, muktēr nose
xref
See mucous
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
Word Origin and History for mucus
n.
1660s (replacing Middle English mucilage), from Latin mucus "slime, mold, mucus of the nose, snot," from PIE root *meug- "slippery, slimy," with derivatives referring to wet or slimy substances or conditions (cf. Latin emungere "to sneeze out, blow one's nose," mucere "be moldy or musty," Greek myssesthai "to blow the nose," myxa "mucus," mykes "fungus," Sanskrit muncati "he releases"). Old English had horh, which may be imitative.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
mucus
(myōō′kəs)- The viscous slippery substance that consists chiefly of mucin, water, cells, and inorganic salts and that is secreted as a protective lubricant coating by the cells and glands of the mucous membranes.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
mucus
[myōō′kəs]
- The slimy, viscous substance secreted as a protective lubricant by mucous membranes. Mucus is composed chiefly of large glycoproteins called mucins and inorganic salts suspended in water.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
mucus
A slippery and somewhat sticky fluid secreted by the glands in mucous membranes. Mucus lubricates and protects the mucous membranes.
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.