uterus

noun

uter·us ˈyü-tə-rəs

ˈyü-trəs

plural uteri ˈyü-tə-ˌrī or uteruses

: a muscular organ of the female mammal for containing and usually for nourishing the young during development prior to birth

called also womb

: a structure in some other animals (such as salamanders and nematodes) analogous to the mammalian uterus in which eggs or young develop

Examples of uterus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Hormonal shifts and physical pressure from the uterus can raise the risk of a clot forming during pregnancy and for six to 12 weeks after birth. — Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 20 Oct. 2026 Because the situation put her at high risk of developing an infection, medical experts said doctors should have offered to speed up delivery or empty her uterus; the fetus was not viable, and losing the pregnancy was inevitable. — Cassandra Jaramillo, ProPublica, 19 Oct. 2026 Around half a million women have hysterectomies each year, and for women without a uterus, ACOG recommends estrogen alone. — Shannon Firth, NPR, 16 Oct. 2026 Four add-ons—acupuncture, intralipid infusion (fat injections intended to regulate the immune system) and platelet-rich-plasma (PRP), or blood injections, in the uterus and ovaries—had either mixed evidence or low quality data backing them up. — Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 30 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for uterus

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin, belly, womb; probably akin to Greek hoderos belly, Sanskrit udara

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of uterus was in the 14th century

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Browse Nearby Words

uterine

uterus

utfangthief

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Cite this Entry

Style

“Uterus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/uterus. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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Kids Definition

uterus

noun

uter·us ˈyüt-ə-rəs

plural uteruses or uteri -ˌrī

: the muscular organ of a female mammal in which the young develop before birth

called also womb

Medical Definition

uterus

noun

uter·us ˈyüt-ə-rəs

plural uteri -ˌrī also uteruses

: an organ in female mammals for containing and usually for nourishing the young during development prior to birth that consists of a greatly modified and enlarged section of an oviduct (as in rodents and marsupials) or of the two oviducts united (as in the higher primates including humans), that has thick walls consisting of an outer serous layer, a very thick middle layer of smooth muscle, and an inner mucous layer containing numerous glands, and that during pregnancy undergoes great increase in size and change in the condition of its walls

called also womb

see cervix sense 2a, corpus uteri, endometrium, fundus sense c, myometrium, perimetrium

uterus

noun

Examples of uterus in a Sentence

Word History

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Kids Definition

Medical Definition

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