bile duct

American  

noun

Anatomy.

1. a large duct that transports bile from the liver to the duodenum, having in humans and many other vertebrates a side branch to a gallbladder for bile storage.

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bile duct Scientific  

1. Any of the passages that carry bile from the liver or gallbladder to the duodenum.

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Etymology

Origin of bile duct

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

Some cases involved vanishing bile duct syndrome, a liver condition characterized by the progressive destruction of bile ducts in the liver, the agency said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

CA19-9 levels can rise in non-cancerous conditions like pancreatitis or bile duct obstruction, and some people do not produce the marker at all due to genetic differences.

From Science Daily • Mar. 23, 2026

In 2020, his son, David, died in his fifties from complications of bile duct cancer.

From BBC • Sep. 16, 2025

“While recovering from the transplant, he contracted a bile duct infection, which led to hemodialysis to filter out the toxins in his body.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2025

It has a short excretory duct, about half as wide as a crow quill, which enters the duodenum at the same place where the bile duct enters it.

From Popular Lectures on Zoonomia Or The Laws of Animal Life, in Health and Disease by Garnett, Thomas