chyme
/kʌɪm
/noun [mass noun] Physiology
The pulpy acidic fluid which passes from the stomach to the small intestine, consisting of gastric juices and partly digested food.The rate of emptying of chyme from the stomach varies with the composition of the meal....
- The mixture of gastric secretions, saliva, and food, known collectively as chyme, moves to the small intestine.
- The body of the stomach produces acid and has a muscular digestive function for mixing chyme.
Derivatives
chymous
- When solid food becomes chymous (ie, liquid in consistency), it passes through the pyloric sphincter into the duodenum.
Origin
Late Middle English: from late Latin chymus, from Greek khūmos 'juice' (compare with chyle). The Greek words khūlos and khūmos are from the same root and more or less identical in sense.