Meaning & use
lacteal
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Having to do with milk, or looking like milk.
Grammar: Used before a noun: lacteal fluid.
Patterns
- lacteal fluid
- lacteal secretion
The doctor noted a lacteal secretion in the sample.
Plants such as the milkweed give off a lacteal juice when cut.
A pale, lacteal liquid dripped from the broken stem.
nouncountablemedicalbiology
A tiny lymph vessel in the wall of the small intestine that takes up digested fats and carries them into the lymph system.
Grammar: Countable: each villus contains a lacteal.
Patterns
- the lacteal in a villus
- absorbed by the lacteals
Each villus contains a lacteal that absorbs digested fat.
Fat droplets enter the lacteals before they reach the blood.
Biology students labeled the lacteal in the diagram of the small intestine.
Word forms
| plural | lacteals |
|---|
Common combinations
- lacteal vessel
- A lacteal vessel runs through the center of each villus.
- lacteal fluid
- The sap produced a lacteal fluid when scratched.
- lacteal gland
- The lacteal gland produces milk.
- lacteal secretion
- A lacteal secretion appeared on the leaf.
- lacteal absorption
- Lacteal absorption transports dietary fat into the lymph.
Synonyms and how they differ
- milky
- Milky is the everyday word for something that looks or tastes like milk, while lacteal is scientific.
Word family
Commonly confused: lacteal or lactose? lacteal or lacrimal?
lacteal vs lactose
Lactose is the sugar in milk, while a lacteal is a lymph vessel in the intestine or an adjective meaning milky.
lacteal vs lacrimal
Lacrimal relates to tears, while lacteal relates to milk, though the words look alike.
Practice
In the small intestine, which structure absorbs digested fat and carries it into the lymph system?
Choose one answer.
The lacteal is the lymph vessel inside each villus. Lactose is a sugar and lactase is an enzyme, so neither is a vessel.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lacteal”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.