cerebrospinal fluid

noun

: a colorless liquid that is comparable to serum, is secreted from the blood into the lateral ventricles of the brain, and serves chiefly to maintain uniform pressure within the brain and spinal cord

Examples of cerebrospinal fluid in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On top of that, testing for the disease requires a sample of cerebrospinal fluid or a PET scan (brain imaging), according to the NIH. —Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 19 Dec. 2024

The agency harshly criticized his analyses of samples of blood and cerebrospinal fluid for a clinical trial of Cassava’s drug, which some scientists say calls into question its claimed efficacy. —Bycharles Piller, science.org, 28 June 2024

This led them to the opening—the end of the trigeminal nerve that was in open contact with the cerebrospinal fluid. —Matthew Ponsford, WIRED, 19 Sep. 2024

Numbness or Weakness Anywhere in the Body Numbness or weakness anywhere in the body can be a sign of metastatic breast cancer, seen when cancer spreads into the spinal cord or into the cerebrospinal fluid. —Julie Scott, Msn, People.com, 2 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1828, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

cerebrospinal fluid

noun

ce·​re·​bro·​spi·​nal fluid

sə-ˌrē-brō-ˌspīn-ᵊl-

: a colorless fluid that occupies the cavities of the brain and spinal cord and the space between these and the membranes surrounding them

Medical Definition

cerebrospinal fluid

noun

: a liquid that is comparable to serum but contains less dissolved material, that is secreted from the blood into the lateral ventricles of the brain by the choroid plexus, circulates through the ventricles to the spaces between the meninges about the brain and spinal cord, and is resorbed into the blood through the subarachnoid sinuses, and that serves chiefly to maintain uniform pressure within the brain and spinal cord

called also spinal fluid

compare lymph