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Glite Dictionary
second stomach

second stomach

7.9
A stomach part in animals like cows that helps break down plant food
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : segundo estómago
  • Veterinary students studied the structure of the second stomach in sheep.

Examples

  • The cow's second stomach plays a vital role in digesting plant fibers.

  • Food passes from the rumen into the second stomach for further breakdown.

  • The cow's second stomach plays a crucial role in digestion.

  • Did you know that a sheep has a second stomach?

  • The cow's second stomach helps break down food before it passes on to the next compartment.

  • In ruminants, the second stomach plays a crucial role in digestion by filtering digested material.

  • The second stomach of a sheep is located right after the first and is essential for their unique digestive process.

Synonyms

reticulum
vssecond stomach
  • Specialized
1 9.9

The second part of the stomach in animals like cows and sheep that helps break down food

has identical meaning but uses an alternative anatomical name

Surface Forms

second stomach singular
second stomachs plural

Morphology

2nd + stomach

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'second' (an ordinal indicating position) with 'stomach' (a digestive chamber), so it denotes the stomach that is second in sequence. This ordinal+noun compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words would infer it refers to the stomach in second position (even if they lack specific anatomical terminology like 'reticulum').

Etymology

The name second stomach comes from the real order inside animals like cows that have four stomach parts: after the first part the food goes into the second part to be mixed and broken down more. So it simply refers to 'the second compartment in a cow's stomach'.