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

See Examples For:

smooth muscle

Calcium entering smooth muscle cells plays a central role in triggering contraction.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026

These microscopic channels connect neighboring smooth muscle cells so they contract together rather than independently.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 13, 2026

To learn more, Reilly and Pan closely tracked the development of transformed smooth muscle cells in mice with atherosclerosis and sampled plaques of people with atherosclerosis.

From Science Daily ● May 1, 2024

Their study found that smooth muscle cells that normally line the inside of our arteries migrate into atherosclerotic plaques, change their cell identity, activate cancer genes, and proliferate inside the plaques.

From Science Daily ● May 1, 2024

In general, it controls the tone of the tissues, of involuntary or smooth muscle fibres of the blood vessels and the contractile organs of the body like the intestines, the bladder and uterus.

From The Glands Regulating Personality by Louis Berman M.D.