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Small pit in the retina
Answer for the clue "Small pit in the retina ", 5 letters:
fovea
Alternative clues for the word fovea
Word definitions for fovea in dictionaries
Wiktionary
Word definitions in Wiktionary
n. 1 (context anatomy English) A slight depression or pit in a bone or organ. 2 (context anatomy English) The retinal fovea, or fovea centralis, responsible for sharp central vision.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Word definitions in The Collaborative International Dictionary
Fovea \Fo"ve*a\, n.; pl. Fove[ae] . [L., a small pit.] A slight depression or pit; a fossa.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Word definitions in Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"depression or shallow pit in a surface," 1849, Latin, literally "small pit," related to favissae "underground reservoirs;" which is of unknown origin, perhaps from Etruscan. Related: Foveal ; foveated .
Usage examples of fovea.
When we look directly at a faint object-a star, say-we are using the fovea, the part of the retina with the greatest acuity and the greatest density of cells called cones.
When you look just above or below something, the images falls outside the fovea, on the periphery of the retina, where there are more rods than cones, giving you a much better view.
The optic nerve leaves the eyeball just to one side of the fovea and its point of exit is the one place in the retina where photo-receptors are completely absent.
When he looked directly at the screen, it was still there, though somewhat dimmed as its image moved off the fovea centralis of his retina.
Furthermore, in the very center of the macula lutea there is a small depression called the fovea centralis (foh'vee-uh sen-tray'lis.