apocrine gland

noun

: a gland and especially a sweat gland that secretes a viscous fluid into a hair follicle (as in the armpit or groin), is lined with a single layer of usually columnar cells, and typically does not become active until puberty

Note: It is now understood that apocrine glands produce a secretion which lacks cellular material and causes little damage to the secreting cell. While this secretion pattern is more closely related to the merocrine than the apocrine type, these glands continue to be referred to as apocrine glands because of their uniquely characteristic large secretory lumen and milky secretion.

compare eccrine gland

Examples of apocrine gland in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

So yes, sometimes your salty floods do have an odor to them, but the vast majority of human odor comes from these apocrine glands that are in your armpits. Klimek: Does sweat play a role in how humans perceive one another? —Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 July 2024

Those hotspots contain apocrine glands, which produce sweat and odor, Massick explained. —Korin Miller, Health, 11 July 2024

Our closer relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas, bear roughly two eccrine for every one apocrine gland. —Jeff Goodell, Time, 6 July 2023

Many furred mammals have apocrine glands, including camels and donkeys, as well as chimpanzees. —Jeff Goodell, Time, 6 July 2023

Old World monkeys like macaques have equal parts eccrine and apocrine glands. —Jeff Goodell, Time, 6 July 2023

That type of sweat comes from the apocrine glands, which are located mainly in the underarm and groin. —Robert J. Davis, CNN, 28 Feb. 2018

Humans also have apocrine glands, primarily in the armpit and groin. —Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 7 Dec. 2016

Word History

First Known Use

1930, in the meaning defined above