white matter

noun Anatomy.
nerve tissue, especially of the brain and spinal cord, which primarily contains myelinated fibers and is nearly white in color. Compare gray matter ( def 1 ).
Origin:
1830–40

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
white matter
 
—n
Compare grey matter Technical name: substantia alba the whitish tissue of the brain and spinal cord, consisting mainly of myelinated nerve fibres

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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00:10
White matter is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

white matter n.
Whitish nerve tissue, especially of the brain and spinal cord, chiefly composed of myelinated nerve fibers and containing few or no neuronal cell bodies or dendrites. Also called alba, substantia alba, white substance.

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
white matter  
The whitish tissue of the vertebrate brain and spinal cord, made up chiefly of nerve fibers (axons) covered in myelin sheaths. Compare gray matter.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
The white matter in the foremost frontal lobes, the so-called prefrontal areas,
  had been disrupted on both sides of the brain.
Scientists have suspected for more than two decades that schizophrenia is
  linked to defects in the brain's white matter.
They found that the white matter in the prefrontal cortex of chimpanzees does
  not grow as rapidly as it does in humans.
These myelin-coated tracts make up the brain's white matter, while the bodies
  of neural cells are called grey matter.
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