mu·cus

(myo͞o′kəs)

The viscous, slippery substance that consists chiefly of mucin, water, cells, and inorganic salts and is secreted as a protective lubricant coating by cells and glands of the mucous membranes.

[Latin mūcus.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mucus

(ˈmjuːkəs)

1. (Physiology) the slimy protective secretion of the mucous membranes, consisting mainly of mucin

2. (Biochemistry) the slimy protective secretion of the mucous membranes, consisting mainly of mucin

[C17: from Latin: nasal secretions; compare mungere to blow the nose; related to Greek muxa mucus, muktēr nose]

Usage: See at mucous

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mu•cus

(ˈmyu kəs)

n.

a viscous solution of mucins, water, electrolytes, and white blood cells that is secreted by mucous membranes and serves to protect and lubricate the internal surfaces of the body.

[1655–65; < Latin mūcus snot; akin to Greek myktḗr nose, mýxa slime]

mu·cus

(myo͞o′kəs)

The slimy substance secreted by mucous membranes to lubricate and protect them.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mucous, mucus - Mucous is the adjective from Latin meaning "slimy," and mucus is the noun from Latin but cognate with Greek mussesthai, "blow the nose."

mucus

[ˈmjuːkəs] N → moco m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

mucus

[ˈmjuːkəs] n → mucus m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

mucus

n → Schleim m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

mucus

[ˈmjuːkəs] n → muco

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

mucus

(ˈmjuːkəs) noun

the fluid from the nose.

mu·cus

n. moco, mucosidad, sustancia viscosa segregada por las membranas y glándulas mucosas.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

mucus

n mucosidad f, moco

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

And when I desired honey I only desired bait, and sweet mucus and mucilage, for which even the mouths of growling bears, and strange, sulky, evil birds, water:

View in context

It was a yellowish brown and seemed coated with a rough and half-dry mucus.

View in context

"We can't have a watery layer separating sticky mucus from our cells because there is an osmotic pressure in the mucus that causes it to expand in water," Rubinstein says.

Human Lungs Brush out Intruders

Another fact I consider important is the retention of the cervical mucus, which may be crucial to prevent ascending infection and PROM.

Cervical tension and retention of mucus also critical

A blocked nose is due to swollen erectile tissue When your nose feels blocked it isn't because it's full of mucus, but because the veins in your nose are inflamed.

DID YOU KNOW?

The airways protect the human body by producing and clearing mucus away from the airways.

UCLA scientists report identifying new stem cell that helps in repair of large airways on the lungs

The airways protect the body by producing and clearing mucus from the airways.

New airway stem cell discovered

The spaces are lined with a membrane containing cells that secrete mucus, which filters and warms the air you breathe in.

Sinusitis

Salps are sometimes called "the ocean's vacuum cleaners." The soft, barrel-shaped, transparent animals take in water at one end, filter out tiny edible plants and animals with internal nets made of mucus, and squirt water out their back ends to propel themselves forward.

To catch the ocean's tiniest organisms: salps' internal feeding nets are remarkably engineered

A new study highlights that it hampers the cleaning of mucus from the airways.

E-cigarette vaping harms mucus clearance, study suggests

Now US researchers are concentrating on the mucus layer that protects fish from bacteria, viruses and fungi.

Who would have thought? Antibiotics from fish slime; DR MIRIAM STOPPARD; Helping to keep you fit and healthy

The researchers theorized that the habit of suppressing the cough (which helps clear the lungs of mucus) predisposed these women to MAC infections.

Don't Ignore or Suppress Coughs: Persistent coughing for months or years is a symptom of bronchiectasis, a lung disease that is increasingly being detected in older adults