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Saliva   /səlˈaɪvə/   Listen
noun
Saliva  n.  (Physiol.) The secretion from the salivary glands. Note: In man the saliva is a more or less turbid and slighty viscid fluid, generally of an alkaline reaction, and is secreted by the parotid, submaxillary, and sublingual glands. In the mouth the saliva is mixed with the secretion from the buccal glands. The secretions from the individual salivary glands have their own special characteristics, and these are not the same in all animals. In man and many animals mixed saliva, i.e., saliva composed of the secretions of all three of the salivary glands, is an important digestive fluid on account of the presence of the peculiar enzyme, ptyalin.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Saliva" Quotes from Famous Books



... place between principals and people. His face is disposed in fat white tiers, like a Buddha's belly. Monumentally motionless he says nothing at all, but he tranquilly spits all around him. He radiates saliva. ...
— Light • Henri Barbusse

... or grass, answered Ferajji's purposes in the absence of a cloth. If I ordered a plate, and I pointed out a black, greasy, sooty thumbmark to him, a rub of a finger Ferajji thought sufficient to remove all objections. If I hinted that a spoon was rather dirty, Ferajji fancied that with a little saliva, and a rub of his loin cloth, the most fastidious ought to be satisfied. Every pound of meat, and every three spoonfuls of musk or porridge I ate in Africa, contained at least ten grains of sand. Ferajji was considerably exercised at a threat I made ...
— How I Found Livingstone • Sir Henry M. Stanley

... in safety passed the night away. But should some victim feel the fatal fang Upon the march, then of this magic race Were seen the wonders, for a mighty strife Rose 'twixt the Psyllian and the poison germ. First with saliva they anoint the limbs That held the venomous juice within the wound; Nor suffer it to spread. From foaming mouth Next with continuous cadence would they pour Unceasing chants — nor breathing space nor pause — Else spreads the poison: nor does fate permit A moment's ...
— Pharsalia; Dramatic Episodes of the Civil Wars • Lucan

... surface of the body prevent the further excretion of perspiration; or bathing the eyes destroy the functions of the Meibomian glands? Does the drinking of water prevent any further discharge of saliva into the mouth, or of gastric juice into the stomach? If the washing away of a secretion destroyed the power of the secreting gland, human existence would ...
— The Royal Road to Health • Chas. A. Tyrrell

... to talk in her shrill voice, from time to time sucking in the superfluous saliva with ...
— Library Of The World's Best Literature, Ancient And Modern, Vol. 2 • Charles Dudley Warner


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