Adjacent Words

Serum definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SE'RUM, n. [L. ]
1. The thin transparent part of the blood.
2. The thin part of milk; whey.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an amber, watery fluid, rich in proteins, that separates out when blood coagulates [syn: serum, blood serum]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural serums or sera) Etymology: Latin, whey, wheylike fluid; akin to Greek oros whey Date: 1665 1. the watery portion of an animal fluid remaining after coagulation: a. (1) blood serum (2) antiserum b. whey c. a normal or pathological serous fluid (as in a blister) 2. the watery part of a plant fluid II. adjective Date: 1876 occurring or found in the blood serum <serum cholesterol> <serum antibodies>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. sera or serums) 1 a an amber-coloured liquid that separates from a clot when blood coagulates. b whey. 2 Med. blood serum (usu. from a non-human mammal) as an antitoxin or therapeutic agent, esp. in inoculation. 3 a watery fluid in animal bodies. Phrases and idioms: serum sickness a reaction to an injection of serum, characterized by skin eruption, fever, etc. Etymology: L, = whey

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Serum Se"rum (s[=e]"r[u^]m), n. [L., akin to Gr. ???, Skr. s[=a]ra curd.] (Physiol.) (a) The watery portion of certain animal fluids, as blood, milk, etc. (b) A thin watery fluid, containing more or less albumin, secreted by the serous membranes of the body, such as the pericardium and peritoneum. Blood serum, the pale yellowish fluid which exudes from the clot formed in the coagulation of the blood; the liquid portion of the blood, after removal of the blood corpuscles and the fibrin. Muscle serum, the thin watery fluid which separates from the muscles after coagulation of the muscle plasma; the watery portion of the plasma. See Muscle plasma, under Plasma. Serum albumin (Physiol. Chem.), an albuminous body, closely related to egg albumin, present in nearly all serous fluids; esp., the albumin of blood serum. Serum globulin (Physiol. Chem.), paraglobulin. Serum of milk (Physiol. Chem.), the whey, or fluid portion of milk, remaining after removal of the casein and fat.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(serums) 1. A serum is a liquid that is injected into someone's blood to protect them against a poison or disease. N-VAR 2. Serum is the watery, pale yellow part of blood.

Moby Thesaurus

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