ostium
Americannoun
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ostia
plural
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Anatomy, Zoology. a small opening or orifice, as at the end of the oviduct.
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Zoology. one of the tiny holes in the body of a sponge.
noun
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any of the pores in sponges through which water enters the body
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any of the openings in the heart of an arthropod through which blood enters
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any similar opening
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ostium
First recorded in 1655–65, ostium is from the Latin word ōstium entrance, river mouth
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A young and sturdy "janitor" opened the door leading to the ostium, over which a magpie confined in a cage greeted them noisily with the word, "Salve!"
From Quo Vadis: a narrative of the time of Nero by Jeremiah Curtin
Wherever the fertilized ovum remains and implants its villi the tube becomes turgid and swollen, and the abdominal ostium gradually closes.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 7 "Gyantse" to "Hallel" by Various
Double doors admitted the visitor to the entrance-hall, or ostium.
From Stories of the Olden Time (Historical Series—Book IV Part I) by Various
This has nothing to do with the foramen ovale, which occurs as an independent perforation higher up, and at first is known as the ostium secundum.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2 "Hearing" to "Helmond" by Various
At first it does not quite reach the endocardial cushions in the auricular canal, already mentioned, but leaves a gap, called the ostium primum, between.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2 "Hearing" to "Helmond" by Various
The sponge coats unwanted detritus and waste with mucus and sends the coated particles out through small pores in its body called ostia.
From Science Magazine ● Aug. 10, 2022
Those “little mouths” are called ostia, and the openings where water flows out are oscula.
From New York Times ● Aug. 10, 2022
Other scientists had observed sponges sneezing by pushing water through their ostia before, but no one had confirmed the behavior was a mode of self-cleaning until now.
From Science Magazine ● Aug. 10, 2022
In other sponges, ostia are formed by folds in the body wall of the sponge.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
Bishop Leslie transfers this same fight to the banks of the Annan in Dumfriesshire, describing it as having occurred during an invasion of Cumbria, "ad Annandiæ amnis ostia."
From Archaeological Essays, Vol. 1 by John Stuart
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
