Word Meanings - SPHINCTER - Book Publishers vocabulary database

A muscle which surrounds, and by its contraction tends to close, a natural opening; as, the sphincter of the bladder.

Related words: (words related to SPHINCTER)

• OPENNESS
  The quality or state of being open.
• NATURALIST
  1. One versed in natural science; a student of natural history, esp. of the natural history of animals. 2. One who holds or maintains the doctrine of naturalism in religion. H. Bushnell.
• SPHINCTER
  A muscle which surrounds, and by its contraction tends to close, a natural opening; as, the sphincter of the bladder.
• NATURAL STEEL
  Steel made by the direct refining of cast iron in a finery, or, as wootz, by a direct process from the ore.
• CLOSEHANDED
  Covetous; penurious; stingy; closefisted. -- Close"hand`ed*ness, n.
• OPEN SEA
  A sea open to all nations. See Mare clausum.
• CLOSEFISTED
  Covetous; niggardly. Bp. Berkeley. "Closefisted contractors." Hawthorne.
• WHICHEVER; WHICHSOEVER
  Whether one or another; whether one or the other; which; that one which; as, whichever road you take, it will lead you to town.
• NATURAL
  Belonging to, to be taken in, or referred to, some system, in which the base is 1; -- said or certain functions or numbers; as, natural numbers, those commencing at 1; natural sines, cosines, etc., those taken in arcs whose radii are 1. (more info)
• NATURALIZE
  1. To make natural; as, custom naturalizes labor or study. 2. To confer the rights and privileges of a native subject or citizen on; to make as if native; to adopt, as a foreigner into a nation or state, and place in the condition of
• CLOSE
  to G. schliessen to shut, and to E. clot, cloister, clavicle, 1. To stop, or fill up, as an opening; to shut; as, to close the eyes; to close a door. 2. To bring together the parts of; to consolidate; as, to close the ranks of an army; -- often
• OPEN
  1. Free of access; not shut up; not closed; affording unobstructed ingress or egress; not impeding or preventing passage; not locked up or covered over; -- applied to passageways; as, an open door, window, road, etc.; also, to inclosed structures
• OPEN-MOUTHED
  Having the mouth open; gaping; hence, greedy; clamorous. L'Estrange.
• CLOSEN
  To make close.
• CLOSER
  The last stone in a horizontal course, if of a less size than the others, or a piece of brick finishing a course. Gwilt. (more info) 1. One who, or that which, closes; specifically, a boot closer. See under Boot. 2. A finisher; that which finishes
• WHICH
  the root of hwa who + lic body; hence properly, of what sort or kind; akin to OS. hwilik which, OFries. hwelik, D. welk, G. welch, OHG. welih, hwelih, Icel. hvilikr, Dan. & Sw. hvilken, Goth. hwileiks, 1. Of what sort or kind; what; what a; who.
• NATURALNESS
  The state or quality of being natural; conformity to nature.
• CLOSE-FIGHTS
  Barriers with loopholes, formerly erected on the deck of a vessel to shelter the men in a close engagement with an enemy's boarders; -- called also close quarters.
• CLOSEHAULED
  Under way and moving as nearly as possible toward the direction from which the wind blows; -- said of a sailing vessel.
• CLOSE-BODIED
  Fitting the body exactly; setting close, as a garment. Ayliffe.
• SUPERNATURALNESS
  The quality or state of being supernatural.
• PROPENE
  See PROPYLENE
• UNCLOSE
  1. To open; to separate the parts of; as, to unclose a letter; to unclose one's eyes. 2. To disclose; to lay open; to reveal.
• ENCLOSE
  To inclose. See Inclose.
• PARCLOSE
  A screen separating a chapel from the body of the church. Hook.
• PRETERNATURALITY
  Preternaturalness. Dr. John Smith.
• PROPENSE
  Leaning toward, in a moral sense; inclined; disposed; prone; as, women propense to holiness. Hooker. -- Pro*pense"ly, adv. -- Pro*pense"ness, n.
• INCLOSER
  One who, or that which, incloses; one who fences off land from common grounds.
• SUPERNATURAL
  Being beyond, or exceeding, the power or laws of nature; miraculous. Syn. -- Preternatural. -- Supernatural, Preternatural. Preternatural signifies beside nature, and supernatural, above or beyond nature. What is very greatly aside from the ordinary
• SUPERNATURALISM
  The doctrine of a divine and supernatural agency in the production of the miracles and revelations recorded in the Bible, and in the grace which renews and sanctifies men, -- in opposition to the doctrine which denies the agency of any other than