pancreas

[ pan-kree-uhs, pang- ]

/ ˈpæn kri əs, ˈpæŋ- /

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noun Anatomy, Zoology.

a gland, situated near the stomach, that secretes a digestive fluid into the intestine through one or more ducts and also secretes the hormone insulin.

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Compare islet of Langerhans, pancreatic juice.

Origin of pancreas

1570–80; <New Latin <Greek pánkreas sweetbread, equivalent to pan-pan- + kréas flesh, meat

OTHER WORDS FROM pancreas

pan·cre·at·ic

[pan-kree-at-ik, pang-], /ˌpæn kriˈæt ɪk, ˌpæŋ-/, adjective

Words nearby pancreas

panchetto, panchreston, panchromatic, pancosmism, pancratium, pancreas, pancreat-, pancreatectomy, pancreatic duct, pancreatic fibrosis, pancreatic juice

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pancreas in a sentence

The word “hormone” entered the medical lexicon in 1905 to describe secretions of the pancreas and was soon used for other chemical messengers produced by any of the body’s glands.
How medicine sought to control women’s bodies while ignoring their symptoms|Susan Okie|July 2, 2021|Washington Post
In this autoimmune disease, the immune system attacks insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, leaving the body unable to make the insulin needed to control blood sugar levels.
A repurposed TB vaccine shows early promise against diseases like diabetes and MS|Amanda B. Keener|June 2, 2021|Science News
We wouldn’t think twice about trying to treat that condition if it were treating your pancreas as with diabetes, or your joints as with arthritis.
A New Frontier to Fight This Hair-Loss Disease|Charu Kasturi|March 2, 2021|Ozy
She did take some programming courses in college, but most of the skills she deployed in making her artificial pancreas were self-taught.
Honey, I Grew the Economy (Ep. 399)|Stephen J. Dubner|December 5, 2019|Freakonomics

It may strike you as strange that the artificial pancreas didn’t already exist.
Honey, I Grew the Economy (Ep. 399)|Stephen J. Dubner|December 5, 2019|Freakonomics
The shot damaged his liver, lungs, pancreas and spleen and has left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Childhood Denied|Yousef Munayyer|October 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The internal injuries cost him his spleen and part of his pancreas, but he could skate without those.
The Fall and Rise of Skateboarder Danny Renaud|Michael Daly|August 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Eventually Jobs did have surgery, but by then it was too late—the cancer had spread beyond his pancreas.
Steve Jobs, Unvarnished|Dan Lyons|October 24, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Steve Jobs was right to be optimistic when, in 2004, he announced that he had cancer in his pancreas.
Jobs Authorized Bio For Kids||October 7, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The surgery removes the right side of the pancreas, the gallbladder, and parts of the stomach, bile duct, and small intestine.
Jobs’s Unorthodox Treatment|Sharon Begley|October 6, 2011|DAILY BEAST
In the pancreas after putrefaction, and in the fces of typhus patients, no skatol was found.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I|Arnold Cooley
The pancreas, which is the stomach sweetbread, is used less often than the others.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 3|Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
The thymus and thyroid glands and the pancreas are included under the term sweetbreads.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 3|Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
The pancreas does not appear in this drawing, being concealed behind the stomach.
A Treatise on Domestic Economy|Catherine Esther Beecher
Pan′creatin, the pancreatic juice; Pancreatīt′is, inflammation of the pancreas.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)|Various

British Dictionary definitions for pancreas

pancreas

/ (ˈpæŋkrɪəs) /

noun

a large elongated glandular organ, situated behind the stomach, that secretes insulin and pancreatic juice

Derived forms of pancreas

pancreatic (ˌpæŋkrɪˈætɪk), adjective

Word Origin for pancreas

C16: via New Latin from Greek pankreas, from pan- + kreas flesh

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

Scientific definitions for pancreas

pancreas

[ păng′krē-əs ]

A long, irregularly shaped gland in vertebrate animals that is located behind the stomach and is part of the digestive system. It secretes hormones (insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin) into the bloodstream and digestive enzymes into the small intestine or gut. The pancreas also secretes sodium bicarbonate, which protects the lining of the intestine by neutralizing acids from the stomach.

Cultural definitions for pancreas

pancreas

[ (pang-kree-uhs, pan-kree-uhs) ]

A gland behind the stomach that functions in both the endocrine system and the digestive system. Its endocrine function involves the secretion into the bloodstream of insulin, which regulates the level of sugars in the blood. As part of the digestive system, the pancreas secretes into the small intestine a fluid containing enzymes that is used in the digestion of all foods.

pancreas

Origin of pancreas

OTHER WORDS FROM pancreas

Words nearby pancreas

Words related to pancreas

How to use pancreas in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pancreas

Derived forms of pancreas

Word Origin for pancreas

Scientific definitions for pancreas

Cultural definitions for pancreas