Capillary - Definitions from Dictionary.com

13 results for: Capillary

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

cap·il·lar·y

Audio Help [kap-uh-ler-ee] Pronunciation Key adjective, noun, plural -lar·ies.

–adjective

1.	pertaining to or occurring in or as if in a tube of fine bore.

2.	resembling a strand of hair; hairlike.

Physics.

a.	pertaining to capillarity.

b.	of or pertaining to the apparent attraction or repulsion between a liquid and a solid, observed in capillarity.

4.	Anatomy. pertaining to a capillary or capillaries.

–noun

5.	Anatomy. one of the minute blood vessels between the terminations of the arteries and the beginnings of the veins.

6.	Also called capillary tube. a tube with a small bore.

[Origin: 1570–80; capill(ar) (obs., < L capillāris pertaining to hair, equiv. to capill(us) hair + -āris -ar¹) + -ary

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Capillary

To learn more about Capillary visit Britannica.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

cap·il·lar·y Audio Help (kāp'ə-lěr'ē) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Relating to or resembling a hair; fine and slender.
Having a very small internal diameter: a capillary tube.
Anatomy Of or relating to the capillaries.
Physics Of or relating to capillarity.

n. pl. cap·il·lar·ies

Anatomy One of the minute blood vessels that connect arterioles and venules. These blood vessels form an intricate network throughout the body for the interchange of various substances, such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, between blood and tissue cells.
A tube with a very small internal diameter.

[From Latin capillāris, from capillus, hair.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
capillary

1656, from L. capillaris "of hair," from capillus "hair" (of the head).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

capillary
adjective
1.	of or relating to hair
2.	long and slender with a very small internal diameter; "a capillary tube"
noun
1.	a tube of small internal diameter; holds liquid by capillary action
2.	any of the minute blood vessels connecting arterioles with venules

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
capillary [kəˈpiləri, (American) ˈkӕpəleri] noun — plural capillaries

a tube with a very small diameter, especially (in plural) the tiny vessels that join veins to arteries

Arabic:	أُنْبوب شَعْري
Chinese (Simplified):	毛细管
Chinese (Traditional):	毛細管
Czech:	kapilára
Danish:	hårkar; kapillar
Dutch:	haarvat
Estonian:	kapillaar
Finnish:	hiussuoni
French:	capillaire
German:	das Kapillargefäß
Greek:	τριχοειδές αγγείο
Hungarian:	kapilláris
Icelandic:	hárpípa; háræðar
Indonesian:	kapiler
Italian:	capillare

Japanese:	毛細管
Latvian:	kapilārs
Lithuanian:	kapiliaras
Norwegian:	kapillar, hårrør
Polish:	naczynie włoskowate
Portuguese (Brazil):	capilar
Portuguese (Portugal):	capilar
Romanian:	vas capilar
Russian:	капилляр
Slovak:	kapilára
Slovenian:	kapilara
Spanish:	capilar
Swedish:	hårrörskärl, kapillär
Turkish:	kılcal damar

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

capillary Audio Help (kāp'ə-lěr'ē) Pronunciation Key
Any of the tiny blood vessels that connect the smallest arteries (arterioles) to the smallest veins (venules). Capillaries form a network throughout the body for the exchange of oxygen, metabolic waste products, and carbon dioxide between blood and tissue cells.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
capillary [(kap-uh-ler-ee)]

A thin tube, such as a blood vessel or a straw, through which fluids flow.

Note: The interaction between the fluid and the vessel walls produces a force that can lift the fluid up into the tube, a phenomenon known as capillary action.

[Chapter:] Physical Sciences and Mathematics

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

capillary cap·il·lary (kāp'ə-lěr'ē)
adj.

Of or relating to the capillaries.
Relating to or resembling a hair; fine and slender.

n.
Blood capillary.

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: ¹cap·il·lary
Pronunciation: 'kap-&-"ler-E, Brit usu k&-'pil-&-rE
Function: adjective
1 a : resembling a hair especially in slender elongated form b : having a very small bore capillary tube>
2 : involving, held by, or resulting fromsurface tension
3 : of or relating to capillaries or capillarity

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: ²capillary
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -lar·ies
: a capillary tube; especially : any of thesmallest blood vessels connecting arterioles with venules and forming networks throughout the body

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Capillary

Cap`il*la"ceous\, a. [L. capillaceus hairy, fr. capillus hair.] Having long filaments; resembling a hair; slender. See Capillary.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Capillary

Cap"il*la*ry\ (k[a^]p"[i^]l*l[asl]*r[y^] or k[.a]*p[i^]l"l[.a]*r[y^]; 277), a. [L. capillaris, fr. capillus hair. Cf. Capillaire.]

1. Resembling a hair; fine; minute; very slender; having minute tubes or interspaces; having very small bore; as, the capillary vessels of animals and plants.

2. Pertaining to capillary tubes or vessels; as, capillary action.

Capillary attraction, Capillary repulsion, the apparent attraction or repulsion between a solid and liquid caused by capillarity. See Capillarity, and Attraction.

Capillarity tubes. See the Note under Capillarity.

On-line Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

capillary

capillary: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary

Browse Nearby Entries: