secretion
Americannoun
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secretions
plural
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(in a cell or gland) the act or process of separating, elaborating, and releasing a substance that fulfills some function within the organism or undergoes excretion.
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the product of this act or process.
noun
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a substance that is released from a cell, esp a glandular cell, and is synthesized in the cell
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the process involved in producing and releasing such a substance from the cell
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The process of secreting a substance from a cell or gland.
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A substance, such as saliva, mucus, tears, bile, or a hormone, that is secreted.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonsecretionnoun
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oversecretionnoun
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supersecretionnoun
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nonsecretionaryadjective
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secretionaryadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of secretion
1640–50; < Latin sēcrētiōn- (stem of sēcrētiō ), equivalent to sēcrēt ( us ) (past participle of sēcernere to secern ) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
A secretion is a substance made and released by a living thing, like when your skin sweats. Secretions don't have to do with secrets, but with secreting: synthesizing and then producing a substance. A machine can't make a secretion — only living things can. Many secretions are harmless, while others are dangerous to other animals. For example, the secretions of some frogs are a type of poison. Some secretions stay within an animal, like the bile secreted by our livers. Saliva is another secretion. The word comes from the Latin root secretionem, "separation."
Vocabulary lists containing secretion
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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:
Novo’s cautious C-suite was ready to target Type 2 diabetes—an obvious choice, as GLP-1 augments insulin secretion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
The EU has already defined dairy items as products coming from the "normal mammary secretion".
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2025
The drug's overall effect is to promote a feeling of fullness or "satiety," which reduces the desire for food and to boost insulin secretion, which reduces glucose levels in the blood.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 26, 2024
Further analysis of how SNORA73 binds with mRNA suggested that synthetic snoRNA sequences can be engineered to affect protein secretion.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 22, 2024
The decanted infant howls; at once a nurse appears with a bottle of external secretion.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
Nurse bees eat this material and process its nutrients into glandular secretions, including royal jelly, which are then fed to developing larvae.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
It now states that Andes hantavirus spread is usually limited to people in prolonged direct physical contact, in close or enclosed spaces, or exposed to body fluids or respiratory secretions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026
The devastating viral infection, carried by wild birds, spreads primarily through respiratory secretions and bird-to-bird contact and can also be contracted by mammals that ingest birds or other products.
From BBC ● Dec. 25, 2024
But we do know infected birds can shed the virus in their saliva, nasal secretions and feces.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2024
The potential new antibiotic is found in the chemical secretions of cockroaches.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
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.
