superior thyroid vein
- noun
- /suːˈpɪəriər θaɪrɔɪd veɪn/
- Specialized
- The superior thyroid vein drains blood from the upper part of the thyroid gland directly into the internal jugular vein.
Examples
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During the surgery, the surgeon carefully identified and tied off the superior thyroid vein to prevent bleeding.
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The superior thyroid vein drains blood from the upper part of the thyroid gland directly into the internal jugular vein.
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Anatomical diagrams often label the superior thyroid vein as an important structure in thyroid surgery.
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The superior thyroid vein drains blood from the thyroid gland.
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Anatomists study the superior thyroid vein in detail.
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Anatomical diagrams often label the superior thyroid vein as an important structure in thyroid surgery.
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During the surgery, the surgeon carefully identified and tied off the superior thyroid vein to prevent bleeding.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is fully compositional: 'superior' (upper) + 'thyroid' (gland in the neck) + 'vein' (blood vessel) yields the meaning of a vein associated with the upper part of the thyroid that drains blood. Anatomical naming conventions are regular across languages, so a learner who knows the constituent words can readily infer this MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Superior thyroid vein comes from its parts: superior means the 'upper' part, thyroid is the gland at the front of the neck, and vein is a vessel that 'drains' blood. So the name points to the vein that carries blood away from the upper part of the thyroid into a larger vein in the neck.