Main Entry: umbilical artery Function: noun : either of a pair of arteries that arise from the hypogastric arteries of the mammalian fetus and pass through the umbilicalcord to the placenta to which they carry the deoxygenated blood from the fetus
umbilical arteryn. Either of two arteries that before birth is a continuation of the common iliac artery and after birth partly forms the medial umbilical ligament and partly is reduced in size and gives off the superior vesical artery.
