utricle
Americannoun
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a small sac or baglike body, as an air-filled cavity in a seaweed.
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Botany. a thin bladderlike pericarp or seed vessel.
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Anatomy. the larger of two sacs in the membranous labyrinth of the internal ear.
noun
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anatomy the larger of the two parts of the membranous labyrinth of the internal ear Compare saccule
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botany the bladder-like one-seeded indehiscent fruit of certain plants, esp sedges
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of utricle
1725–35; < Latin utriculus, diminutive of uter bag; see -cle 1
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.
The roughly 30,000 hair cells in the utricle and 16,000 hair cells in the saccule lie below a gelatinous layer, with their stereocilia projecting into the gelatin.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
In those individuals, Balaban says, further tests implicated damage to the ear's otolith organs, the utricle and the saccule, key to sensing gravity.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 20, 2018
Balaban and his colleagues venture that a directed energy source could have damaged the exquisitely sensitive utricle and saccule.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 20, 2018
Head position is sensed by the utricle and saccule, whereas head movement is sensed by the semicircular canals.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
In two of these the quadrifids now appeared full of very finely granular matter, and their protoplasmic lining or primordial utricle was a little shrunk.
From Insectivorous Plants by Charles Darwin
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.
