pituitary
Americannoun
-
pituitaries
plural
-
Pharmacology. the extract obtained from the lobes of the pituitary glands of hogs, sheep, and other domestic animals: the posterior lobe constituent increases blood pressure, contracts stomach muscles, etc., and the anterior lobe constituent regulates growth of the skeleton.
adjective
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of, relating to, or involving the pituitary gland.
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noting a physical type of abnormal size with overgrown extremities resulting from excessive pituitary secretion.
noun
adjective
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of or relating to the pituitary gland
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archaic of or relating to phlegm or mucus
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of pituitary
First recorded in 1605–15, pituitary is from the Latin word pītuītārius pertaining to or secreting phlegm. See pip 2, -ary
Vocabulary lists containing pituitary
Human Anatomy and Physiology - High School
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Human Anatomy and Physiology - Middle School
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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:
The reviewers were particularly concerned with the compound’s potential to harm pregnant women and children, as well as its effect on the pituitary gland.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2024
“Events” is a generous way to describe the action, which mostly unfolds in and around the narrator Eve’s pituitary gland.
From New York Times ● Jan. 27, 2024
From birth, Jorgie was in and out of hospital with a pituitary gland problem that affected her development and made her face puffy.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2024
At WSU, Dr. Tina Owen was one of the first veterinarians in the country to successfully perform a procedure to remove the pituitary gland.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 5, 2024
Under Cushing, John studied pituitary syndromes in dogs and mice and contemplated X-ray irradiations of humans.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Dr. Susman, pathologist, had noticed during the autopsies of some 200 cancer victims that their pituitaries and pancreases were generally and suspiciously abnormal.
From Time Magazine Archive
Dr. Abravanel's Body Type Diet and Lifetime Nutrition Plan divides people into thyroids, adrenals, gonads or pituitaries, recommending different foods for each one.
From Time Magazine Archive
There Dr. Riddle and his co-workers have painstakingly tested prolactin and other front-lobe hormones on normal animals, fasting animals, animals without pituitaries, without thyroids, without adrenals.
From Time Magazine Archive
Human growth hormone must be extracted, in minute quantities, from the pituitaries of cadavers.
From Time Magazine Archive
Meanwhile, some doctors have suggested that pituitaries, like corneas, should be willed to a gland bank.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
