sphincteric

9.1

Relating to a muscle that controls the opening and closing of a body passage

adjective
/sfɪŋkˈtɛrɪk/

Specialized

: esfinterico

The doctor explained how sphincteric muscles help control the passage of food through the digestive tract.

Examples

Sphincteric tones are essential for maintaining urinary continence during physical activity.
Injuries to the sphincteric regions can lead to complications in gastrointestinal function.
To interrupt some of the sphincteric action of the palatopharyngeal and nasopharyngeal musculature in order to increase the patency of the nasopharyngeal airway.

Academic text (1999)
Loss of palatal sphincteric action (required for closure during speech and swallowing) has been attributed to excessive excision of the uvula and midline palatal tissue.

Academic text (1999)

Synonyms

sphincteral

vssphincteric

Specialized

1 9.9

A ring of muscle that opens and closes body passages

is about affecting that muscle to change the opening and closing of a passage

Surface Forms

sphincteric positive

Morphology

sphincteric = sphincter (transparent) = sphincter + ic

The adjective is formed by the regular suffix '-ic' meaning 'relating to', so if a learner knows 'sphincter' they can predict the meaning.

Etymology

Sphincteric comes from the Greek word sphincter, which itself comes from sphingein meaning 'to bind tight' or 'to squeeze'. So sphincteric describes something about a muscle that squeezes to open or close an opening in the body.