vas
noun
a vessel or duct.
vas
1 American
[vas]
/ væs /
noun
Anatomy, Zoology, Botany.
-
vasa
plural
vas-
2
American
vas-
1
British
combining form
vas
2
British
/ væs /
noun
Usage
What does vas- mean? Vas- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “vessel,” typically referring to blood vessels, such as veins and arteries. It is often used in medical terms, especially in anatomy. In some instances, vas- specifically refers to the vas deferens, the duct that carries sperm to the penis. Vas- is a variant of vaso-, which loses its -o- when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use vaso- article. Vas- comes from the Latin vās, meaning “vessel.” The Latin vās is also the source of the word vase, which is, after all, a type of vessel—often for flowers! And the diminutive form of vās is vāsculum, literally “little vessel”; it’s the source of the word vascular, commonly encountered in cardiovascular. Learn more about cardio- at our Words That Use cardio- and Words That Use cardi- articles.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of vas
First recorded in 1645–55, vas is from the Latin word vās vessel
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.
See Examples For:
For this investigation, the researchers from the Institute of Agricultural Sciences used samples of testicles, epididymis and vas deferens from 118 freshly slaughtered bulls of reproductive age.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 16, 2024
A vasectomy blocks the vas deferens, the tubes that are the highway for sperm between the testes and penis.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 2, 2023
Writing on Twitter, Louis-Dreyfus said: "Cloris Leachman's perfect performance as Frau Blücher had an enormous impact on my life. She was sublime. 'He vas my boyfriend!' RIP."
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2021
Another nonhormonal product, called Vasalgel, is a polymer hydrogel that physically blocks sperm in the vas deferens so they cannot reach an egg.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 25, 2017
Half the hamper vas home-canned fruit: tomatoes and pickled peaches.
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
During pregnancy, Hayley was diagnosed with vasa previa, a dangerous condition in which the blood vessels from the placenta or umbilical cord block the birth canal.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2024
But four of the five greater vasa parrots that used the tools and ingested the calcium were males.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 15, 2015
In the vasa recta particularly, this rate of flow is important for two additional reasons.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
Movement of water from the glomerulus is primarily due to pressure, whereas that of peritubular capillaries and vasa recta is due to osmolarity and concentration gradients.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
The arteries are nourished by small vessels—the vasa vasorum—which ramify chiefly in the outer coat.
From Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Alexis Thomson
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.
