The Collaborative International Dictionary
Pituitary \Pi*tu"i*ta*ry\, a. [L. pituita phlegm, pituite: cf. F. pituitarie.] (Anat.)
Secreting mucus or phlegm; as, the pituitary membrane, or the mucous membrane which lines the nasal cavities.
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Of or pertaining to the pituitary body; as, the pituitary fossa.
Pituitary body or Pituitary gland (Anat.), a a small, somewhat cherry-shaped endocrine gland, situated in the pituitary fossa, and suspended from the base of the hypothalamus; the hypophysis; -- called also glandula pituitaria, and basilaris. It secretes th pituitary hormones: oxytocin; vasopresin; antidiuretic hormone; luteinizing hormone; somatotropins; prolactin; thyroid stimulating hormone; gonadotropins; adrenal corticotropin and other peptide hormones. It affects all hormonal functions, and is thus called the ``master gland''.
Pituitary fossa (Anat.), the ephippium.
Wiktionary
n. (context anatomy English) An endocrine gland, about the size of a pea, that sits in a small, bony cavity at the base of the brain whose secretions control the other endocrine glands and influence growth, metabolism, and maturation.
WordNet
n. the master gland of the endocrine system; located at the base of the brain [syn: pituitary, pituitary body, hypophysis]
Wikipedia
In vertebrate anatomy, the pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland about the size of a pea and weighing in humans. It is a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain. The hypophysis rests upon the hypophysial fossa of the sphenoid bone in the center of the middle cranial fossa and is surrounded by a small bony cavity ( sella turcica) covered by a dural fold ( diaphragma sellae). The anterior pituitary (or adenohypophysis) is a lobe of the gland that regulates several physiological processes (including stress, growth, reproduction, and lactation). The intermediate lobe synthesizes and secretes melanocyte-stimulating hormone. The posterior pituitary (or neurohypophysis) is a lobe of the gland that is functionally connected to the hypothalamus by the median eminence via a small tube called the pituitary stalk (also called the infundibular stalk or the infundibulum).
Hormones secreted from the pituitary gland help control: growth, blood pressure, certain functions of the sex organs, thyroid glands and metabolism as well as some aspects of pregnancy, childbirth, nursing, water/salt concentration and the kidneys, temperature regulation and pain relief.
Usage examples of "pituitary gland".
During adolescence the visible differences between the mammalian sexes increase under the influence of a mix of hormones from the gonads, adrenal glands, and pituitary gland.
One afternoon I pointed to a patient sitting in chair number five, and Diane began to describe an abnormal condition of the pituitary gland.
I am talking about a talent which is linked to the pituitary gland, a gland which is nearly dormant in a child Charlene McGee's age.
Her pituitary gland, which hangs by a threadlike stalk from the hypothalamus at the base of the brain, has a tumor.
By placing a human pituitary gland in her own skull, she had effectively humanized herself.
Cured, incidentally, of the disease of my pituitary gland, and with my weight back to normal, my health perfect.
A hypothalamic hormone present in mammals which acts on the pituitary gland.
Within Cedric's pituitary gland, the deadly new proteins were able to bind themselves to the repressors that covered the genes for the death hormone.
There is no other surgeon in the Fatherland who can transplant a pituitary gland, but Doctor Lans.
My guess is, his head's solid bone down to the center of it, where there's a cavity just big enough for his pituitary gland.