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Glite Dictionary
capillary vessel

capillary vessel

4.9
A very small blood vessel that lets oxygen and nutrients pass to body cells
  • noun
  • /ˈkæpɪˌlɛri ˈvɛsəl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : capilar
  • Oxygen and nutrients pass through the walls of the capillary vessels to nourish surrounding cells.

Examples

  • The human body contains millions of capillary vessels.

  • The human body contains billions of capillary vessels that form an intricate network.

  • Damage to capillary vessels can lead to bruising under the skin.

  • Each capillary vessel plays a crucial role in nutrient exchange.

  • The doctor explained that oxygen and nutrients pass through the walls of a capillary vessel into the surrounding tissues.

  • When injuries occur, blood seeps from a damaged capillary vessel, causing bruising in the affected area.

  • In the lungs, carbon dioxide is exchanged for oxygen as blood flows through the capillary vessels surrounding the alveoli.

Synonyms

capillary
vscapillary vessel
  • Specialized
11 4.8

A very small blood vessel that lets oxygen and nutrients move between blood and body tissues

means the same but is written as a phrase including the noun form

How Small

capillary vessel
  • Specialized
4.9
arteriole
  • Specialized
1 7.7
blood vessel
62 2.2

Surface Forms

capillary vessel singular
capillary vessels plural

Morphology

capillary + vessel

The phrase's meaning is directly compositional: 'capillary' denotes a minute blood vessel and 'vessel' denotes a tubular structure carrying blood, so together they clearly indicate a very small blood vessel. This is a straightforward, cross-linguistically common noun+noun/adjective+noun composition and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Capillary vessel comes from a word meaning 'hair' because capillary describes tubes as thin as a hair and vessel means a blood tube. Picture tiny hair-like tubes where oxygen and nutrients move out of the blood into nearby cells — that's why capillary vessels means the 'smallest blood vessels' that allow this 'exchange'.