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smooth muscle
noun
: muscle tissue that lacks cross striations, is made up of elongated spindle-shaped cells having a central nucleus, and is found especially in vertebrate hollow organs and structures (such as the digestive tract and bladder) as thin sheets performing functions not subject to direct voluntary control and in all or most of the musculature of invertebrates other than arthropods compare striated muscle
Examples of smooth muscle in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The fluid moves because of the micro-contractions of smooth muscle between lymphatic nodes.
—Matt Benoit, Discover Magazine, 6 Dec. 2024
Usually, when food enters your stomach, smooth muscle tissues in the gallbladder contract to push bile out of your gallbladder and into the small intestine, helping digest fat.
—Lindsay Curtis, Health, 1 Oct. 2024
When activated, these receptors relax the smooth muscles of the bladder.
—Matthew Wosnitzer, Verywell Health, 23 Sep. 2024
Her uterus was riddled with fibroids, benign tumors consisting of smooth muscle that were both inside and outside the lining of her uterus.
—Ed Stannard, Hartford Courant, 26 July 2024
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Word History
First Known Use
circa 1890, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near smooth muscle
Cite this Entry
“Smooth muscle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smooth%20muscle. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
Kids Definition
smooth muscle
noun
: muscle that is made up of long thin cells with a single nucleus and no cross stripes, that is found especially in hollow organs and parts (as the bladder and blood vessels), and that is not under voluntary control
called also involuntary muscle
compare striated muscleMedical Definition
smooth muscle
noun
: muscle tissue that lacks cross striations, that is made up of elongated spindle-shaped cells having a central nucleus, and that is found especially in vertebrate hollow organs and structures (as the small intestine and bladder) as thin sheets performing functions not subject to direct voluntary control and in all or most of the musculature of invertebrates other than arthropods
called also nonstriated muscle, unstriated muscle
compare cardiac muscle, striated muscleMore from Merriam-Webster on smooth muscle
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about smooth muscle
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