glomerulus

[gloh-mer-yuh-luhs, gluh-]

glo·mer·u·lus

[gloh-mer-yuh-luhs, gluh-]
noun, plural glo·mer·u·li [-lahy] . Anatomy.
1.
a compact cluster of capillaries.
2.
Also called Malpighian tuft. a tuft of convoluted capillaries in the nephron of a kidney, functioning to remove certain substances from the blood before it flows into the convoluted tubule.


Origin:
1855–60; < Neo-Latin, equivalent to Latin glomer- (stem of glomus) ball-shaped mass + -ulus -ule

glo·mer·u·lar, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Glomerulus is always a great word to know.
So is thorax. Does it mean:
the part of the trunk between the neck and the abdomen, enclosed by the ribs, sternum, and vertebrae, which contains the heart and lungs; the chest
the middle portion of the ear, consisting of the tympanic membrane and an air-filled chamber lined with mucous membrane, that contains the malleus, incus, and stapes.
Collins
World English Dictionary
glomerulus (ɡlɒˈmɛrʊləs)
 
n , pl -li
1.  a knot of blood vessels in the kidney projecting into the capsular end of a urine-secreting tubule
2.  any cluster or coil of blood vessels, nerve fibres, etc, in the body
 
[C18: from New Latin, diminutive of glomus ball]
 
glo'merular
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

glomerulus glo·mer·u·lus (glō-měr'yə-ləs)
n. pl. glo·mer·u·li (-lī')

  1. A small cluster or intertwined mass.

  2. A tuft of capillaries situated within a Bowman's capsule at the end of a renal tubule in the vertebrate kidney that filters waste products from the blood and thus initiates urine formation.

  3. The twisted secretory portion of a sweat gland.

  4. A nerve ending consisting of a cluster of dendritic ramifications and axon terminals surrounded by a glial sheath.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
glomerulus   (glō-měr'yə-ləs)  Pronunciation Key 
Plural glomeruli (glō-měr'yə-lī')
A knot of highly permeable capillaries located within the Bowman's capsule of a nephron. Waste products are filtered from the blood in the glomerulus, initiating the process of urine formation.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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