mucus

[ myoo-kuh s ]

/ ˈmyu kəs /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mucus ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

RELATED WORDS

sludge, mud, goo, gunk, saliva, bile, mire, scum, ooze, fungus, glop, gum, juice, sweat, sap, milk, tears

Nearby words

mucous plug, mucoviscidosis, mucro, mucronate, mucrones, mucus, mud, mud bath, mud berth, mud bug, mud crab

Origin of mucus

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

Can be confusedmucous mucus

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mucus

It would be similar to smoking, only less…and you might get a chronic cough, or raise a little [mucus].
E-Cigarettes: The Side Effects Nobody Talks About|DailyBurn|September 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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 Films|Marlow Stern|June 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The announcer said brightly, “She is completely effaced right now, and she just lost her mucus plug.”
Exclusive: The Miracle of Birth (VIDEO)|Rachel Grady|September 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST
A sufficient amount of mucus or fecal matter will usually be brought away by it.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd

The presence of mucus or of mucus tinged with blood in the stools shows the predominance of colitis.
A System of Practical Medicine By American Authors, Vol. II|Various
An inflammation of a mucous membrane, usually attended with an increased secretion of mucus.
A Practical Physiology|Albert F. Blaisdell
As might be expected from the nature of the disease, the secretion of mucus from the intestinal surface is augmented.
A System of Practical Medicine By American Authors, Vol. II|Various
Blenny, blen′ni, n. a genus of acanthopterygious fishes, covered with mucus or slimy matter.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)|Various

British Dictionary definitions for mucus

mucus

/ (ˈmjuːkəs) /

noun

the slimy protective secretion of the mucous membranes, consisting mainly of mucin

Word Origin for mucus

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

mucus

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.

Medicine definitions for mucus

mucus

[ myōō′kəs ]

n.

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.

Science definitions for mucus

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.

Culture definitions for mucus

mucus

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