Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. A membranous vascular organ that develops in female mammals during pregnancy, lining the uterine wall and partially enveloping the fetus, to which it is attached by the umbilical cord. Following birth, the placenta is expelled.
- n. An organ with similar functions in some nonmammalian animals, such as certain sharks and reptiles.
- n. Botany The part within the ovary of a flowering plant to which the ovules are attached.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. A vascular organ in mammals, except monotremes and marsupials, present only in the female during gestation. It supplies food and oxygen from the mother to the foetus, and passes back waste. It is implanted in the wall of the uterus and links to the foetus through the umbilical cord. It is expelled after birth.
- n. In flowering plants, the part of the ovary where ovules develop; in non-flowering plants where the spores develop.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. The vascular appendage which connects the fetus with the parent, and is cast off in parturition with the afterbirth.
- n. The part of a pistil or fruit to which the ovules or seeds are attached.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In zoöl., anat., and medicine: The organ of attachment of a vertebrate embryo or fetus to the wall of the uterus or womb of the female.
- n. In echinoderms, a flat discoidal sea-urchin, as a sand-dollar or cake-urchin: used in a generic sense by Klein, 1734.
- n. [capitalized] A genus of bivalve mollusks, now called Plaruna.
- n. In botany, that part of the ovary of flowering plants which bears the ovules.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. the vascular structure in the uterus of most mammals providing oxygen and nutrients for and transferring wastes from the developing fetus
- n. that part of the ovary of a flowering plant where the ovules form
Etymologies
Examples
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They say the placenta is a rich source of stem cells capable of transforming into many types of cells in the body, holding out the hope of using them to treat many human ailments including spinal-cord injury and diabetes.
Stem Cell Research May Still Continue After Veto | Impact Lab
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And unless the little sack [folliculus] of the placenta is the intermediary between the falling blood and the child, [the blood] by penetrating would kill him who is exposed.
A Tender Age: Cultural Anxieties over the Child in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
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I had what they called placenta previa and I nearly bled to death and had a terrible time, but while I was in the hospital, soon thereafter, I was very ill and had to have blood transfusions.
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Turns out I didn't write a newsletter for your 59th month, and I blame that entirely on what I call placenta brain, the situation that occurs when a pregnant woman's blood supply is so concentrated on growing someone else's fingers and toes that her brain doesn't have enough juice to complete simple tasks.
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In addition, although cows "share" their blood with their unborn calves, the bovine placenta is a natural filter.
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Exchange of respiratory gases (oxygen and carbon dioxide) across the placenta from the mother to the fetus and from the fetus to the mother.
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Flow of blood across the placenta from the mother to the fetus and from the fetus to the mother.
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And, last of all, the first scan showed that, this time, the placenta is placed towards my back, effectively removing a potential frontal shock absorber from the equation.
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When the placenta grows across the opening of the cervix, it is described as a placenta previa.
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These abnormalities in attachment of the placenta are called placenta accreta, placenta increta, and placenta percreta, depending on the depth of invasion of the uterine wall.
yarb commented on the word placenta
See comments on julia's list.
January 17, 2008