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View synonyms for mucus

mucus

[ myoo-kuhs ]

noun

  1. 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.


mucus

/ ˈmjuːkəs /

noun

  1. the slimy protective secretion of the mucous membranes, consisting mainly of mucin
“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


mucus

/ myo̅o̅kəs /

  1. 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.


mucus

  1. A slippery and somewhat sticky fluid secreted by the glands in mucous membranes . Mucus lubricates and protects the mucous membranes.


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Usage

See mucous
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Word History and Origins

Origin of mucus1

1655–65; < Latin mūcus snot; akin to Greek myktḗr nose, mýxa slime
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Word History and Origins

Origin of mucus1

C17: from Latin: nasal secretions; compare mungere to blow the nose; related to Greek muxa mucus, muktēr nose
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Compare Meanings

How does mucus compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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Example Sentences

Those tears are mixtures of water, mucus, salt, proteins and fats.

By keeping your head above your neck and chest, but still in line with your spine, you can also relieve cold symptoms associated with mucus build-up or sinus pressure.

Researchers, including Max Teplitski, a scientist at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and his colleagues find that coral mucus seems to attract and cultivate a particular community of microbes.

A drone already exists, for example, that can collect mucus from a whale and feasibly detect viruses like the coronavirus.

From Fortune

It detects water flows inside the mucus clouds and lets researchers figure out the palace’s inner 3-D structure.

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.”

The announcer said brightly, “She is completely effaced right now, and she just lost her mucus plug.”

It is thinner than that of chronic bronchitis, and upon standing separates into three layers of pus, mucus, and frothy serum.

Mucus is recognized from its characteristic slimy appearance when the fluid is poured from one vessel into another.

Stools composed almost wholly of mucus and streaked with blood are the rule in dysentery, ileocolitis, and intussusception.

When the mucus is small in amount and intimately mixed with the stool, the trouble is probably in the small intestine.

A sufficient amount of mucus or fecal matter will usually be brought away by it.

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