white matter

noun

: neural tissue especially of the brain and spinal cord that consists largely of myelinated nerve fibers bundled into tracts, has a whitish color, and typically underlies the cortical gray matter

Examples of white matter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Healthy Eating and Slimmer Waists Tied to Better Brain Health Jensen and her team found that higher diet quality in midlife and into older age was associated with better structural and functional connectivity of the hippocampus and better white matter integrity. —Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 24 Mar. 2025

Mechanisms of white matter change induced by meditation training PubMed. —Avery Hurt, Discover Magazine, 17 Mar. 2025

Gray matter consists of neural cell bodies and nerve synapses, while white matter is primarily the bundles and pathways that connect those neural cells. —New Atlas, 11 Feb. 2025

This led physicians to conclude that the woman's white matter damage in her brain was caused by angiostronsylus cantonensis — commonly referred to as the rat lungworm. —Rachel Raposas, People.com, 14 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1674, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for white matter

• antimatter
• atter
• batter
• blatter
• catarrh
• chatter
• clatter
• fatter
• flatter
• hatter
• latter
• natter

Kids Definition

white matter

noun

: whitish nerve tissue especially of the brain and spinal cord that consists largely of nerve fibers enclosed in a fatty material and that lies under the gray matter

Medical Definition

white matter

noun

: neural tissue especially of the brain and spinal cord that consists largely of myelinated nerve fibers bundled into tracts, has a whitish color, and typically underlies the gray matter