portal vein

American

noun

Anatomy.

the large vein conveying blood to the liver from the veins of the stomach, intestine, spleen, and pancreas.

portal vein British

noun

any vein connecting two capillary networks, esp in the liver ( hepatic portal vein )

"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

Etymology

Origin of portal vein

First recorded in 1835–45

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.

In healthy mice, the team detected 111 metabolites enriched in the hepatic portal vein and 74 in peripheral blood.

From Science Daily • Dec. 14, 2025

Samples were taken from the hepatic portal vein, which carries blood from the intestine to the liver, and from peripheral blood, which travels from the liver to the heart before circulating through the body.

From Science Daily • Dec. 14, 2025

The intestines harbor numerous gut bacteria, and sometimes these bacteria and their related substances can enter the liver through the portal vein.

From Science Daily • Apr. 25, 2024

The hepatic portal vein delivers materials from these digestive and circulatory organs directly to the liver for processing.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

It appears to act as an inspector of the assimilation material brought in by the portal vein.

From Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023