What is "stomach"

Stomach \Stom"ach\, n. [OE. stomak, F. estomac, L. stomachus, fr. Gr. sto`machos stomach, throat, gullet, fr. sto`ma a mouth, any outlet or entrance.]

1. (Anat.) An enlargement, or series of enlargements, in the anterior part of the alimentary canal, in which food is digested; any cavity in which digestion takes place in an animal; a digestive cavity. See Digestion, and Gastric juice, under Gastric.

2. The desire for food caused by hunger; appetite; as, a good stomach for roast beef.
   --Shak.

3. Hence appetite in general; inclination; desire.

   He which hath no stomach to this fight, Let him depart.
   --Shak.

4. Violence of temper; anger; sullenness; resentment; willful obstinacy; stubbornness. [Obs.]

   Stern was his look, and full of stomach vain.
   --Spenser.

   This sort of crying proceeding from pride, obstinacy, and stomach, the will, where the fault lies, must be bent.
   --Locke.

5. Pride; haughtiness; arrogance. [Obs.]

   He was a man Of an unbounded stomach.
   --Shak.

   Stomach pump (Med.), a small pump or syringe with a flexible tube, for drawing liquids from the stomach, or for injecting them into it.

   Stomach tube (Med.), a long flexible tube for introduction into the stomach.

   Stomach worm (Zo["o]l.), the common roundworm ( Ascaris lumbricoides) found in the human intestine, and rarely in the stomach.

Stomach \Stom"ach\, v. i. To be angry. [Obs.]
--Hooker.

Stomach \Stom"ach\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stomached; p. pr. & vb. n. Stomaching.] [Cf. L. stomachari, v.t. & i., to be angry or vexed at a thing.]

1. To resent; to remember with anger; to dislike.
   --Shak.

   The lion began to show his teeth, and to stomach the affront.
   --L'Estrange.

   The Parliament sit in that body . . . to be his counselors and dictators, though he stomach it.
   --Milton.

2. To bear without repugnance; to brook. [Colloq.]

late 14c., earlier stomak (early 14c.), "internal pouch into which food is digested," from Old French stomaque, estomac "stomach," from Latin stomachus "throat, gullet; stomach," also "taste, inclination, liking; distaste, dislike;" also "pride, indignation," which were thought to have their origin in that organ (source also of Spanish estómago, Italian stomaco), from Greek stomachos "throat, gullet, esophagus," literally "mouth, opening," from stoma "mouth" (see stoma).\n

\nApplied anciently to the openings of various internal organs, especially that of the stomach, then by the later Greek physicians to the stomach itself. The native word is maw. Some 16c. anatomists tried to correct the sense back to "esophagus" and introduce ventricle for what we call the stomach. Meaning "belly, midriff, part of the body that contains the stomach" is from late 14c.\n

\nThe spelling of the ending of the word was conformed to Latin, but the pronunciation remains as in Middle English. Related: stomachial (1580s); stomachical (c.1600); stomachic (1650s). Pugilistic stomacher "punch in the stomach" is from 1814; from mid-15c. as "vest or other garment which covers the belly." The Latin figurative senses also were in Middle English (such as "relish, inclination, desire," mid-15c.) or early Modern English. Also sometimes regarded in Middle Ages as the seat of sexual desire.

"tolerate, put up with," 1570s, from stomach (n.), probably in reference to digestion; earlier sense was opposite: "to be offended at, resent" (1520s), echoing Latin stomachari "to be resentful, be irritated, be angry," from stomachus (n.) in its secondary sense of "pride, indignation." Related: Stomached; stomaching.

n. 1 An organ in animals that stores food in the process of digestion. 2 (context informal English) The belly. 3 (context obsolete English) pride, haughtiness. 4 (context obsolete English) appetite. 5 (context figuratively English) desire, appetite (for something abstract). vb. 1 (context transitive English) To tolerate (something), emotionally, physically, or mentally; to stand or handle something. 2 (context obsolete intransitive English) To be angry. 3 (context obsolete transitive English) To resent; to remember with anger; to dislike.

1. v. bear to eat; "He cannot stomach raw fish"

2. put up with something or somebody unpleasant; "I cannot bear his constant criticism"; "The new secretary had to endure a lot of unprofessional remarks"; "he learned to tolerate the heat"; "She stuck out two years in a miserable marriage" [syn: digest, endure, stick out, bear, stand, tolerate, support, brook, abide, suffer, put up]

1. n. an enlarged and muscular saclike organ of the alimentary canal; the principal organ of digestion [syn: tummy, tum, breadbasket]

2. the region of the body of a vertebrate between the thorax and the pelvis [syn: abdomen, venter, belly]

3. an inclination or liking for things involving conflict or difficulty or unpleasantness; "he had no stomach for a fight"

4. an appetite for food; "exercise gave him a good stomach for dinner"

The Stomach mansion (胃宿, pinyin: Wèi Xiù) is one of the twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the western mansions of the White Tiger.

The Stomach is an organ found in animals.

Stomach may also refer to:

• Stomach (Chinese constellation)
• Stomach (Chinese medicine)
• Stomach fundus
• Stomach oil
• The colloquial word for the Abdomen

Stomach, a concept from traditional Chinese medicine as distinct from the Western medical concept of stomach, is more a way of describing a set of interrelated parts than an anatomical organ.

The Stomach and its paired organ, the Spleen, are associated with the element of earth and the emotions of anxiety and stress.

The stomach is a muscular, hollow, dilated part of the gastrointestinal tract that functions as an important organ in the digestive system. The stomach is present in many animals including vertebrates, echinoderms, insects (mid-gut), and molluscs. In humans and many other vertebrates it is involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication (chewing).

In most vertebrates, the stomach is located between the esophagus and the small intestine. It secretes digestive enzymes and gastric acid to aid in food digestion. The pyloric sphincter controls the passage of partially digested food ( chyme) from the stomach into the duodenum where peristalsis takes over to move this through the rest of the intestines.