smooth muscle

American  

noun

Anatomy.

1. involuntary muscle tissue in the walls of viscera and blood vessels, consisting of nonstriated, spindle-shaped cells.

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smooth muscle British  

noun

1. muscle that is capable of slow rhythmic involuntary contractions: occurs in the walls of the blood vessels, alimentary canal, etc Compare striped muscle

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Etymology

Origin of smooth muscle

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

The disease causes smooth muscle cells to proliferate, resulting in cystic growth throughout women’s lungs and abdomens.

From Washington Post

The treatments only target skeletal muscle and not the smooth muscle of the organs.

From Seattle Times

These foot soldiers produce proteins that disarm the mother’s defenses, destroy the smooth muscles that line her blood vessels and dilate and redirect the vessels to feed the embryo.

From New York Times

This consists of the epithelium and a layer of connective tissue called the lamina propria, as well as a thin band of smooth muscle.

From Nature

Encouraged by how the dogs fared, the group also treated a 53-year-old woman with leiomyosarcoma, a form of cancer that begins in smooth muscles.

From Science Magazine