Smooth muscle
Smooth muscle
smooth muscle
Noun
1. a muscle that contracts without conscious control and found in walls of internal organs such as stomach and intestine and bladder and blood vessels (excluding the heart)
(synonym) involuntary muscle
(hypernym) muscle, musculus
(hyponym) myometrium
2. muscle tissue that does not appear striated under the microscope; has the form of thin layers or sheets
(hypernym) muscle, muscular tissue
(part-meronym) smooth muscle cell
Smooth muscle
One of the three types of muscle tissue in the body (skeletal, smooth, cardiac). Generally forms the supporting tissue of blood vessels and hollow internal organs such as the stomach, intestine, and bladder. So named because of the absence of microscopic lines called "cross-striations" which are seen in the other two types.
smooth muscle