urinary system
- noun
- /ˈjʊrɪˌnɛri ˈsɪstəm/
- Specialized
- And on Thursday we're going to talk about sort of just gross aspects of the urinary system, the kidney, the bladder and the tubes that connect these things.
Examples
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The problem is that the urinary system is not designed to pass solid matter, so passing a kidney stone is excruciating.
Blog text (3) -
Doctors often perform tests to examine the health and function of the urinary system.
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Eventually, these stones begin to work their way down through the urinary system with the regular liquid waste.
Blog text (3) -
Yesterday, her birth defect was a unique, non-functional organ connected to her urinary system.
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This may mean that the patient needs a urostomy, an opening between the urinary system and the outside of the body that allows urine to be collected in a bag.
Academic text (2011) -
Intravenous urogram: a dye is injected into a vein in the arm, which then outlines the structure of the urinary system.
Academic text (2011) -
The kidneys play a vital role in filtering waste from the blood within the urinary system.
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Infections in the urinary system can lead to painful symptoms and require medical attention.
Synonyms
The body parts that make, store, and remove urine
Body system that makes, stores, and removes urine
How Big
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a simple adjective+noun combination where 'urinary' means related to urine and 'system' denotes a set of cooperating organs, so the overall meaning ('the organs responsible for urine production/storage/elimination') is directly derivable from the parts. This compositional pattern is common in English and many other languages (e.g. French système urinaire, Spanish sistema urinario), making it immediately understandable to learners who know both constituents.
Etymology
Urinary system gives a simple picture like home plumbing: filters called kidneys make 'urine', a storage tank called the bladder holds it, and a pipe called the urethra lets it out. So it means the group of body parts that make, store, and remove 'urine'.