SPINAL FLUID

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does spinal fluid mean? 

• SPINAL FLUID (noun)
  The noun SPINAL FLUID has 1 sense:

1. clear liquid produced in the ventricles of the brain; fills and protects cavities in the brain and spinal cord

  Familiarity information: SPINAL FLUID used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPINAL FLUID (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Clear liquid produced in the ventricles of the brain; fills and protects cavities in the brain and spinal cord

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

cerebrospinal fluid; spinal fluid

Hypernyms ("spinal fluid" is a kind of...):

bodily fluid; body fluid; humor; humour; liquid body substance (the liquid parts of the body)

Holonyms ("spinal fluid" is a part of...):

ventricle (one of four connected cavities in the brain; is continuous with the central canal of the spinal cord and contains cerebrospinal fluid)

medulla spinalis; spinal cord (a major part of the central nervous system which conducts sensory and motor nerve impulses to and from the brain; a long tubelike structure extending from the base of the brain through the vertebral canal to the upper lumbar region)

 Context examples 

In the studies, scientists injected ASOs into the spinal fluid of mice already infected with scrapie or that were challenged with scrapie proteins within weeks of the injection.

(Experimental treatment slows prion disease, extends life of mice, National Institutes of Health)

Brain scans and spinal fluid tests are now being evaluated to identify certain at-risk individuals.

(Study Points to Possible Blood Test For Memory Decline, Alzheimer’s, NIH)

An analysis of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF), a window into brain chemical activity, revealed that for a subset of patients HIV had started replicating within the brain within the first four months of infection.

(HIV can spread early, evolve in patients’ brains, NIH)