uterus

UK/ˈjuː.tə.ɹəs/US/ˈjuː.tə.ɹəs/

nounB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #6,280 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: uteri

The uterus is the pear-shaped muscular organ in which a foetus develops. An enlarged uterus.

It grows to many times its size during a pregnancy and shrinks back within weeks. The muscle of the uterus is what does the work of labour, which is why the contractions are so powerful.

Definitions of uterus

1nounuterusThe anatomical term for the pear-shaped muscular organ in which a foetus develops.B2+
“A scan showed the uterus was perfectly normal.”

uterus is an organ.

Where it comes from

Latin
uterus
English, today
uterus

Learned borrowing from Latin uterus.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

uterus in the wild

The uterus has different forms in many other animals, and in some, it exists as two separate uteri known as a duplex uterus.
Uterus
Events occurring within the uterus are described with the term in utero.
Uterus
Uterine cancer, also known as womb cancer, includes two types of cancer that develop from the tissues of the uterus.
Uterine cancer
During the menstrual cycle, an ovary releases an ovum, which transits through the fallopian tube and into the uterus.
Female reproductive system
If the egg cell meets with sperm on its way to the uterus, a single sperm cell can enter and merge with it, creating a zygote.
Female reproductive system

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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