Meaning & use
elastic tissue
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountablebiology
Body tissue packed with stretchy fibers that let an organ expand and then spring back to its normal shape.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: elastic tissue in the lungs.
Patterns
- elastic tissue in something
- elastic tissue of something
Elastic tissue in the lungs lets them expand and shrink with each breath.
Large arteries contain a lot of elastic tissue to handle each pulse of blood.
With age, the elastic tissue in the skin becomes less springy.
Word forms
| plural | elastic tissues |
|---|
Common combinations
- elastic tissue in
- The elastic tissue in the aorta absorbs each heartbeat.
- loss of elastic tissue
- Loss of elastic tissue makes the lungs less flexible.
- elastic tissue fibers
- Elastic tissue fibers stretch and recoil.
- arterial elastic tissue
- Arterial elastic tissue helps keep blood flowing smoothly.
- damage elastic tissue
- Smoking can damage elastic tissue in the lungs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- elastin
- Elastin is the protein itself, while elastic tissue is the tissue that contains it.
- connective tissue
- Connective tissue is a wider group, and elastic tissue is one stretchy kind within it.
- elastic fibers
- Elastic fibers are the individual strands, whereas elastic tissue means the whole structure.
Opposites
Word family
- elastic adjective
- able to stretch and return
- elasticity noun
- the ability to stretch and spring back
- elastin noun
- a stretchy protein in the body
- tissue noun
- a group of similar cells that do one job
Commonly confused: elastic tissue or collagen?
elastic tissue vs collagen
Collagen gives tissue strength but little stretch, whereas elastic tissue relies on elastin to stretch and return.
Practice
Which organ relies heavily on elastic tissue to expand and recoil with every breath?
Choose one answer.
Lungs stretch as you breathe in and spring back as you breathe out, thanks to elastic tissue. The liver and kidneys do not need to expand and recoil in the same way.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “elastic tissue”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.