glomerulus

American  

[gloh-mer-yuh-luhs, gluh-] / gloʊˈmɛr yə ləs, glə- /

noun

Anatomy.

plural

glomeruli

1. a compact cluster of capillaries.

2. Also called Malpighian tuft.  a tuft of convoluted capillaries in the nephron of a kidney, functioning to remove certain substances from the blood before it flows into the convoluted tubule.

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glomerulus British  

/ ɡlɒˈmɛrʊləs /

noun

1. a knot of blood vessels in the kidney projecting into the capsular end of a urine-secreting tubule

2. any cluster or coil of blood vessels, nerve fibres, etc, in the body

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glomerulus Scientific  

/ glō-mĕr′yə-ləs /

plural

glomeruli

1. A knot of highly permeable capillaries located within the Bowman's capsule of a nephron. Waste products are filtered from the blood in the glomerulus, initiating the process of urine formation.

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Other Word Forms

• glomerular adjective

Etymology

Origin of glomerulus

1855–60; < New Latin, equivalent to Latin glomer- (stem of glomus ) ball-shaped mass + -ulus -ule

Example Sentences

The blood pressure in the glomerulus is maintained independent of factors that affect systemic blood pressure.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Juxtamedullary nephrons have a smaller glomerulus, allowing them to filter blood at a greater rate than cortical nephrons.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

The olfactory bulb is composed of neural clusters called glomeruli, and each glomerulus receives signals from one type of olfactory receptor, so each glomerulus is specific to one odorant.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

The branch that exits the glomerulus is called the efferent arteriole.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

First, the nephrons filter blood that runs through the capillary network in the glomerulus, which filters out almost all solutes, except for proteins, by glomerular filtration.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022