capillary

capillary

1. (of tubes) having a fine bore

2. Anatomy of or relating to any of the delicate thin-walled blood vessels that form an interconnecting network between the arterioles and the venules

3. Physics of or relating to capillarity

4. Anatomy any of the capillary blood vessels

5. a fine hole or narrow passage in any substance

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

capillary

[′kap·ə‚ler·ē]

(anatomy)

The smallest vessel of both the circulatory and lymphatic systems; the walls are composed of a single cell layer.

(geology)

A fissure or a crack in a formation which provides a route for flow of water or hydrocarbons.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.