capillary
Other forms: capillaries
You are probably most familiar with the word capillary as a minute vessel that transports blood to larger vessels in the body, but a capillary can actually mean any tiny tubelike device that moves a liquid from point to point.
Capillary comes from the Latin word capillaris, meaning "of or resembling hair." The meaning stems from the tiny, hairlike diameter of a capillary. While capillary is usually used as a noun, the word also is used as an adjective, as in "capillary action," in which a liquid is moved along — even upward, against gravity — as the liquid is attracted to the internal surface of the capillaries.
-
any of the minute blood vessels connecting arterioles with venulessynonyms: capillary vesseltypes:glomerulusa small intertwined group of capillaries in the malpighian body; it filters the blood during urine formationtomentum, tomentum cerebria network of tiny blood vessels between the cerebral surface of the pia mater and the cerebral cortextype of:blood vessela vessel in which blood circulates
-
a tube of small internal diameter; holds liquid by capillary actionsynonyms: capillary tube, capillary tubing
-
long and slender with a very small internal diameter
-
of or relating to hair
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Vocabulary lists containing capillary
These 100 words were plucked from Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel ''Fahrenheit 451,'' published in 1953. Find more Summer Reading Vocabulary Lists here.
In this short story, science fiction writer Ray Bradbury imagines an eerie, desolate world in the aftermath of a nuclear explosion. Here are links to our lists for other works by the award-winning author: Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, A Sound of Thunder, All Summer in a Day, August 2026, Marionettes, Inc., The Black Ferris, The Drummer Boy of Shiloh, The Flying Machine, The Pedestrian, The Veldt
The human body is a treasure trove of vocabulary, from the tiniest blood vessel to the biggest bone. How many of these words for body parts do you know?