VENTRAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ventral mean? 

• VENTRAL (adjective)
  The adjective VENTRAL has 2 senses:

1. toward or on or near the belly (front of a primate or lower surface of a lower animal)

2. nearest to or facing toward the axis of an organ or organism

  Familiarity information: VENTRAL used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VENTRAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Toward or on or near the belly (front of a primate or lower surface of a lower animal)

Context example:

ventral (or pelvic) fins correspond to the hind limbs of a quadruped

Similar:

dorsoventral (extending from the back to the belly)

Antonym:

dorsal (belonging to or on or near the back or upper surface of an animal or organ or part)

Derivation:

venter (a bulging body part (as the belly of a muscle))

venter (the womb)

venter (the region of the body of a vertebrate between the thorax and the pelvis)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Nearest to or facing toward the axis of an organ or organism

Synonyms:

adaxial; ventral

Context example:

the upper side of a leaf is known as the adaxial surface

Domain category:

biological science; biology (the science that studies living organisms)

 Context examples 

Triggers degradation of beta-catenin and helps establish dorsal-ventral patterning during embryogenesis.

(Axin 1, NCI Thesaurus)

Two brain regions, the locus coeruleus and the ventral tegmental area, have dopamine-releasing neurons that project into the hippocampus.

(How novelty boosts memory retention, NIH)

The area of the mouth under the ventral surface of the tongue.

(Floor of Mouth, NCI Thesaurus)

This protein is involved in dorsal/ventral patterning.

(Homeobox Protein Hox-A11, NCI Thesaurus)

The most posterior and ventral bone making up the pelvis.

(Ischium, NCI Thesaurus)

Motor neurons in the anterior (ventral) horn of the spinal cord which project to skeletal muscles.

(Anterior Horn Cell, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

The 31 paired peripheral nerves formed by the union of the dorsal and ventral spinal roots from each spinal cord segment.

(Murine Spinal Nerves, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Pertaining to the back or upper surface of the body; opposite of ventral.

(Dorsal, NCI Thesaurus)

Symptoms include burning pain and paresthesias involving the ventral surface of the hand and fingers which may radiate proximally.

(Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

In other experiments, they made mice walk in circles by injecting a drug that mimics morphine into the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a region that controls motivation and addiction.

(Futuristic brain probe allows for wireless control of neurons, NIH)