SPHINCTER

Sphincter

A sphincter is an anatomical structure, a circular muscle that normally maintains constriction of a natural body passage or orifice and which relaxes as required by normal physiological functioning. Sphincters are found in many animals; there are over 50 types in the human body, some microscopically small, in particular the millions of precapillary sphincters. Sphincters relax at death, possibly releasing fluids.

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sphincter

Noun

  1. A ringlike band of muscle that surrounds a bodily opening, constricting and relaxing as required for normal physiological functioning.
    the sphincter of the bladder
  1. The internal or external anal sphincter, to the extent these are distinguished as two separate entities.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: sphincter
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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