URETHRA (urethrae)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: urethrae   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does urethra mean? 

• URETHRA (noun)
  The noun URETHRA has 1 sense:

1. duct through which urine is discharged in most mammals and which serves as the male genital duct

  Familiarity information: URETHRA used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• URETHRA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Duct through which urine is discharged in most mammals and which serves as the male genital duct

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("urethra" 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 "urethra"):

external orifice; urethral orifice (the orifice through which urine is discharged)

musculus sphincter urethrae; urethral sphincter (a striated sphincter muscle that constricts the urethra)

Holonyms ("urethra" is a part of...):

apparatus urogenitalis; genitourinary apparatus; genitourinary system; systema urogenitale; urinary apparatus; urinary system; urogenital apparatus; urogenital system (the system that includes all organs involved in reproduction and in the formation and voidance of urine)

urinary tract (the organs and tubes involved in the production and excretion of urine)

vulva (external parts of the female genitalia)

member; penis; phallus (the male sex organ ('member' is a euphemism))

Derivation:

urethral (of or relating to the urethra)

 Context examples 

Removal of tissue from the urethra for microscopic examination.

(Biopsy of Urethra, NCI Thesaurus)

Examination of the bladder and urethra using a cystoscope, inserted into the urethra.

(Cystoscopy, NCI Dictionary)

Surgery to remove the bladder (the organ that holds urine) and urethra (the tube through which urine leaves the body).

(Cystourethrectomy, NCI Dictionary)

Abnormal growth of the cells of the urethra (lower urinary tract) without malignant characteristics.

(Benign Urethral Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus)

A benign (not cancer) condition in which an overgrowth of prostate tissue pushes against the urethra and the bladder, blocking the flow of urine.

(Benign prostatic hyperplasia, NCI Dictionary)

Endoscopic examination of the urinary bladder or urethra.

(Cystoscopy, NCI Thesaurus)

The urethra is the tube through which urine leaves the body.

(Distal urethra, NCI Dictionary)

A thin, tube-like instrument used to look inside the bladder and urethra.

(Cystoscope, NCI Dictionary)

The portion of the urethra that spans the corpus spongiosum.

(Penile Portion of the Urethra, NCI Thesaurus)

It surrounds part of the urethra, the canal that empties the bladder.

(Murine Prostate, NCI Thesaurus)