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gastric juice

gastric juice

1 3.6
A liquid in the stomach that helps break down food
  • noun
  • /ˈɡæstrɪk dʒuːs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : jugo gástrico
  • Eating a balanced diet enhances the production of gastric juices needed for effective digestion.

So all the, the gastric juices are, are ready to break it down.

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Examples

  • After a heavy meal, your body secretes gastric juice to help break down the food.

  • So all the, the gastric juices are, are ready to break it down.

    ZOE
  • Sounds kind of gross, but gastric juices are actually powerful modulators of brain state.

  • Fact: a bear just rising from the so-called spirit world doesn't have any gastric juices in his stomach yet.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Their primary function is to secrete gastric juices that soften and break up the leaves that the bird has swallowed.

    Academic text (1992)
  • He had us suck out gastric juice, titrate the acid, and calculate secretory rates.

    Academic text (2001)
  • The stomach produces gastric juice to aid in the digestion of food.

Synonyms

digestive juice
vsgastric juice
  • Specialized
1 3.4

The stomach and other parts make a liquid that helps break food into smaller parts

refers only to the stomach secretion rather than all digestive liquids
gastric acid
vsgastric juice
  • Specialized
1 3.9

A strong liquid in the stomach that helps break down food

includes those chemicals but also mentions protective mucus
digestive fluid
vsgastric juice
  • Specialized
3.8

A liquid the body makes that helps break down food

is a specific stomach secretion with acid enzymes and mucus

Surface Forms

gastric juice singular

Morphology

gastric + juice

The meaning 'digestive fluid produced by glands in the stomach' is directly derivable from 'gastric' (related to the stomach) combined with 'juice' (a liquid), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it refers to the stomach's liquid. This adjective+noun compositional pattern is regular and cross-linguistically common, making the phrase immediately comprehensible to B1-level learners who know the words.

Etymology

Gastric juice simply means the 'juice' from the 'stomach'. Here gastric points to the 'stomach' and juice is the liquid that helps break down food, so the phrase means 'the stomach's liquid that helps digestion'.