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placenta

[pluh-sen-tuh] / pləˈsɛn tə /


NOUN
membrane
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

"I borrowed a razor blade to cut the placenta," she told AFP.

From Barron's Aug. 12, 2026

All newborns lack vitamin K. No matter how much vitamin K a mother consumes, it doesn’t sufficiently pass through the placenta, and breast milk contains only small amounts.

From Salon May 7, 2026

The new vaccine was introduced in the UK in 2024 after clinical trials showed it could boost a pregnant woman's immune system enough to pass on protection to the baby through the placenta.

From BBC Apr. 17, 2026

"This finding also reinforces our commitment to developing antidepressants that do not reach the placenta -- a focus of many of our studies right now."

From Science Daily Mar. 17, 2026

In experimental animals the chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides freely cross the barrier of the placenta, the traditional protective shield between the embryo and harmful substances in the mother’s body.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

One point makes the above view more probable in Acropera than in other cases, viz. the presence of rudimentary placentae or testae, for I cannot hear that these have been observed in the male plants.

From More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 2 by Sir Francis Darwin

As I traced the placentae upwards, the ovules appeared, becoming gradually more abundant towards its apex.

From More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 2 by Sir Francis Darwin

Two placentae were expelled some time after the twins, and showed a membranous junction.

From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Walter L. (Walter Lytle) Pyle

Yet when I call to mind the state of the placentae in A. luteola, I am astonished that they should produce ovules.

From More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 2 by Sir Francis Darwin

In making longitudinal sections of the fertilised ovary before mentioned, I found the basal portion entirely destitute of ovules, their place being substituted by transparent cellular ramification of the placentae.

From More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 2 by Sir Francis Darwin

They’ve been found in human organs and tissue, such as brains, livers, placentas and testicles.

From Los Angeles Times Apr. 2, 2026

After their vital role in growing a baby, placentas are usually thrown away.

From BBC Feb. 19, 2025

Yes, even though your own placenta did not live very long, placentas, as a group, are some of the real stars of life on Earth today.

From Slate Sep. 7, 2024

Had someone looked at this patient’s placentas sooner, said Parast, her multiple stillbirths may have been prevented with treatment.

From Salon May 29, 2024

In 2006, some seven hundred new mothers found out that doctors had taken their placentas without consent to test for abnormalities that might help the hospital defend itself against future lawsuits over birth defects.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot




Vocabulary lists containing placenta


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