ALIMENTARY CANAL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does alimentary canal mean? 

• ALIMENTARY CANAL (noun)
  The noun ALIMENTARY CANAL has 1 sense:

1. tubular passage of mucous membrane and muscle extending about 8.3 meters from mouth to anus; functions in digestion and elimination

  Familiarity information: ALIMENTARY CANAL used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ALIMENTARY CANAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Tubular passage of mucous membrane and muscle extending about 8.3 meters from mouth to anus; functions in digestion and elimination

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

alimentary canal; alimentary tract; digestive tract; digestive tube; gastrointestinal tract; GI tract

Hypernyms ("alimentary canal" is a kind of...):

canal; channel; duct; epithelial duct (a bodily passage or tube lined with epithelial cells and conveying a secretion or other substance)

Meronyms (parts of "alimentary canal"):

breadbasket; stomach; tum; tummy (an enlarged and muscular saclike organ of the alimentary canal; the principal organ of digestion)

esophagus; gorge; gullet; oesophagus (the passage between the pharynx and the stomach)

small intestine (the longest part of the alimentary canal; where digestion is completed)

large intestine (beginning with the cecum and ending with the rectum; includes the cecum and the colon and the rectum; extracts moisture from food residues which are later excreted as feces)

pharynx; throat (the passage to the stomach and lungs; in the front part of the neck below the chin and above the collarbone)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "alimentary canal"):

enteron (the alimentary canal (especially of an embryo or a coelenterate))

Holonyms ("alimentary canal" is a part of...):

digestive system; gastrointestinal system; systema alimentarium; systema digestorium (the system that makes food absorbable into the body)

 Context examples 

A state of excessive gas in the alimentary canal.

(Flatulence, NCI Thesaurus)

A disorder characterized by a state of excessive gas in the alimentary canal.

(Flatulence, NCI Thesaurus/CTCAE)

The cavity located at the upper end of the alimentary canal, behind the teeth and gums that is bounded on the outside by the lips, above by the hard and soft palates and below by the tongue.

(Oral cavity, NCI Thesaurus)