small intestine

noun

, Anatomy.

1. intestine ( def 2 ).

small intestine

noun

1. the longest part of the alimentary canal, consisting of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, in which digestion is completed Compare large intestine

small intestine

1. The long, narrow, coiled section of the intestine that extends from the stomach to the beginning of the large intestine. Nutrients from food are absorbed into the bloodstream from the small intestine. In mammals, it is made up of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum.

small intestine

1. The upper portion of the intestines , extending from the stomach to the large intestine , where the digestion of food takes place. The small intestine is about twenty feet long in adults.

Word History and Origins

Origin of small intestine¹

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

While your body does absorb and reuse some bilirubin as the food you’re digesting moves through the small intestine, the rest of that bilirubin becomes stercobilin – which your body must dispose of.

From No Straight News

As digesting food passes through the small intestine, it mixes with chemicals from the liver, and nutrients are absorbed.

From The Daily Beast

An X-ray is then performed to make certain the tube is placed correctly into the stomach or small intestine and not into the lung.

From The Daily Beast

The film reaches its climax when Temple is felled by giardia, a parasite that infects the small intestine.

From The Daily Beast

The surgery removes the right side of the pancreas, the gallbladder, and parts of the stomach, bile duct, and small intestine.

From The Daily Beast

In catarrhal conditions of the small intestine bilirubin may be carried through unchanged.

From Project Gutenberg

When the mucus is small in amount and intimately mixed with the stool, the trouble is probably in the small intestine.

From Project Gutenberg

They inhabit the small intestine, usually in great numbers, and commonly produce a severe and often fatal anemia.

From Project Gutenberg

This acid, on striking the lining of the small intestine, causes the formation in its walls of a substance known as secretin.

From Project Gutenberg

Most of the absorption, however, takes place through the walls of the small intestine.

From Project Gutenberg