uterus
Americannoun
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uteri,
plural
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uteruses
plural
noun
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Nontechnical name: womb. anatomy a hollow muscular organ lying within the pelvic cavity of female mammals. It houses the developing fetus and by contractions aids in its expulsion at parturition
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the corresponding organ in other animals
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uteri
plural
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The hollow, muscular organ of female mammals in which the embryo develops. In most mammals the uterus is divided into two saclike parts, whereas in primates it is a single structure. It lies between the bladder and rectum and is attached to the vagina and the fallopian tubes. During the menstrual cycle (estrus), the lining of the uterus (endometrium) undergoes changes that permit the implantation of a fertilized egg.
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Also called womb
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See more at menstrual cycle
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of uterus
1605–15; < Latin: the womb, matrix; akin to Greek hystéra womb, Sanskrit udara belly
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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.
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Perhaps more importantly, the inserter is thinner—a 3.7 mm diameter to Paragard’s 4.75—with a rounded tip designed to make pushing the tube through the nerve-dense cervix and into the uterus less painful.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2026
Aged 24, she was diagnosed with endometriosis - a condition that affects one in 10 women, where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows outside of the uterus.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
Here’s what I know: There’s a fetus inside a woman’s uterus, and the fetus can communicate in an omniscient, echoing Minnie Mouse voice with its mother.
From Slate ● Sep. 26, 2026
The disease is present when tissue resembling the uterine lining grows outside the uterus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
Soraya underwent a procedure called a hysteroscopy—Dr. Rosen inserted a telescope into Soraya’s uterus and took a look around.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
Kelsey Hatcher, 32, had given birth thrice, each time carrying one baby in one of the uteri, hospital officials said in a release Friday.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 23, 2023
And the odds of becoming pregnant in both uteri - a dicavitary pregnancy - were even slimmer, at "one in a million", according to the UAB.
From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2023
A painting of pink, green and yellow uteri strung on a clothesline hangs on a pale-yellow wall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2022
Her tonic promised to cure everything from menstrual cramps to infertility to prolapsus uteri.
From Salon ● Mar. 9, 2014
Prolapsus uteri sometimes gives rise to severe peri-uterine neuralgia, or what appears to be such; though it is difficult here to draw the line between neuralgia and myalgia.
From Neuralgia and the Diseases that Resemble it by Francis E. Anstie
She claimed to have a rare condition of having two uteruses and provided a fake NHS-branded letter apparently confirming the miscarriage, the court heard.
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2025
These were implanted in the uteruses of normal cows in Brazil, and one transgenic calf was born.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 13, 2024
The book contains striking color illustrations of fetuses and uteruses at all stages of development and pregnancy — the consequences of what Granville called “morbid menstruation.”
From Washington Post ● Jul. 25, 2022
Indeed, it is possible that more clinicians in the future might ask those with uteruses if they want the option to remove their own IUD.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2021
Both of these uteruses were distinct and almost entirely separate.
From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Walter L. (Walter Lytle) Pyle
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