What does the word mucous mean?
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An epithet for all bodies containing mucilage or mucus. It is, also, sometimes used synomously with gummy. In pathology, it is occasionally employed to express the seat of a disease, as mucous disease, mucous phlegmasis; that is, having its seat in a mucous membrane.
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[ Latin] Like mucus; secreting mucus, as M. membrane, M. surfaces; containing mucus, as M. cysts; generated in or due to the presence of m., as M. rales, M. noises. M. cells, conical or spheroidal cells lining the mouth of the glands of the stomach and the alveoli of certain glands( M. glands), such as the submaxillary gland, and secreting mucin. M. degeneration, M. transformation, a form of degeneration in which bodies are converted into a soft, gelatinous mass containing mucin. It occurs normally in the secretion of mucus, and abnormally in cartilage, synovial and m. membranes, and in tumors, producing liquefaction and the formation of cysts. M. layer( Stratum mucosum), the innermost layer of the epidermis. M. membrane, the membrane lining the inner surfaces of the body, viz., the alimentary canal and its diverticula( glandular passages), respiratory tract and its diverticula( Eustachian tube, middle ear), and genito-urinary passages. It consists of one or several superimposed layers of epithelial cells, varying in shape in different localities, placed upon a structureless membrane( basement membrane), which rests upon a connective-tissue substratum( corium). The corium usually contains a distinct layer of non-striated muscular fibres( muscularis mucosae) and frequently also glands and their ducts which open upon the free surface of the membrane and may be regarded as involutions of the latter. The membrane may be flat or thrown into folds or projections by the presence of processes( villi and papillae) of the corium. M. patch, M. papule, a syphilitic condyloma; a large flat, moist papule seated on a m. surface, especially near its junction with the skin, and on the skin itself where there is much moisture. M. polyp, any soft, gelatinous polypoid growth, whether a true m. tumor( myxoma) or not. M. tissue, a form of connective tissue, consisting of stellate, oval, or spindle-shaped cells which are often interconnected by elongated processes, and are imbedded in a homogeneous, translucent, gelatinous matrix containing mucin. It occurs in the umbilical cord and various tissues of the embryo, and in myxomata( which are hence called M. tumors).
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Usage examples for mucous
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During the next four or five days it becomes of a dirty green colour, and in a few days more of a yellowish, milky, mucous character, continuing for two to three weeks. – Aids to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology by W. G. Aitchison Robertson
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In some parts the intestinal mucous membrane was utterly destroyed. – On the cattle plague: or, Contagious typhus in horned cattle. Its history, origin, description, and treatment by Honoré Bourguignon
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Unless there is an inflammation present in the mouth, and the physician in attendance has ordered mouth swabbing, do not touch it; for much harm is done the mucous membrane of the baby's mouth by the forceful manner in which much of the swabbing is done. – The Mother and Her Child by William S. Sadler Lena K. Sadler
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