SMOOTH MUSCLE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does smooth muscle mean? 

• SMOOTH MUSCLE (noun)
  The noun SMOOTH MUSCLE has 2 senses:

1. a muscle that contracts without conscious control and found in walls of internal organs such as stomach and intestine and bladder and blood vessels (excluding the heart)

2. muscle tissue that does not appear striated under the microscope; has the form of thin layers or sheets

  Familiarity information: SMOOTH MUSCLE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SMOOTH MUSCLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A muscle that contracts without conscious control and found in walls of internal organs such as stomach and intestine and bladder and blood vessels (excluding the heart)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

involuntary muscle; smooth muscle

Hypernyms ("smooth muscle" is a kind of...):

muscle; musculus (one of the contractile organs of the body)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "smooth muscle"):

myometrium (the smooth muscle forming the wall of the uterus)

musculus sphincter ani internus (an internal ring of smooth muscle formed by circular fibers of the rectum)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Muscle tissue that does not appear striated under the microscope; has the form of thin layers or sheets

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("smooth muscle" is a kind of...):

muscle; muscular tissue (animal tissue consisting predominantly of contractile cells)

Meronyms (parts of "smooth muscle"):

smooth muscle cell (cells of the smooth muscles)

 Context examples 

There are two types of muscle tissue recognized:striated and smooth muscle.

(Muscle Tissue, NCI Thesaurus)

This allele, which encodes actin, aortic smooth muscle protein, is involved in smooth muscle cell contraction.

(ACTA2 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

The smooth muscle component of an organ, especially of a hollow organ or tubular structure.

(Muscle Layer, NCI Thesaurus)

Actin, aortic smooth muscle (377 aa, ~42 kDa) is encoded by the human ACTA2 gene.

(Actin, Aortic Smooth Muscle, NCI Thesaurus)

This gene plays a role in smooth muscle contraction.

(MYLK Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

An aggressive malignant smooth muscle neoplasm, occurring in adults.

(Adult Leiomyosarcoma, NCI Thesaurus)

This allele, which encodes MKL/myocardin-like protein 1, plays a role in the positive regulation of both smooth muscle cell differentiation and transcription.

(MKL1 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

But valve cells are quite unique and distinct from the smooth muscle cells in our blood vessels, which explains why some treatments for atherosclerosis, such as statins, don't work for CAVD.

(New Hope for Stopping An Understudied Heart Disease in Its Tracks, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

This causes smooth muscle contraction and leads to an elevation of blood pressure.

(Midodrine, NCI Thesaurus)

A rare primary neoplasm of the uterine corpus characterized by the presence of endometrial stromal and smooth muscle components.

(Mixed Endometrial Stromal and Smooth Muscle Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus)