cervical, a. Phys.
(ˈsɜːvɪkəl, sɜːˈvaɪkəl)
[f. L. type *cervīcāl-is (cf. cervīcāl bolster), pertaining to the neck, f. cervix, -īcis; cf. F. cervical.]
1. a. Of or belonging to the cervix or neck.
| 1681 tr. Willis' Rem. Med. Wks. Voc., Cervical, belonging to the neck. 1741 Monro Anat. (ed. 2) 106 They serve for the Passage of the cervical Veins. 1834 J. Forbes tr. Laennec's Dis. Chest 327 The mesenteric or cervical glands. 1866 Huxley Preh. Rem. Caithn. 109 A horse's skull with its upper cervical vetebræ. |
b. Used in regard to other structures: see cervix. spec. of or pertaining to the cervix of the womb.
| 1860 Tanner Pregnancy ii. 54 A plug of viscid cervical mucus. 1884 R. & F. Barnes Syst. Obstetric Med. I. vii. 239 The cervical mucous membrane, lined by the connective tissue which sustains it, yields and slides on the muscular layer. 1923 in M. Box Trial of Marie Stopes (1967) 99 The small occlusive pessary for the cervix—the cervical cap. 1963 G. F. Kantorowicz et al. Inlays, Crowns & Bridges vii. 70 This stage will complete the cutting of a ‘cervical collar’ of sound tissue. 1966 New Statesman 11 Mar. 326/3 Cervical cancer—a disease that kills about 2,500 women a year in England and Wales alone. 1966 Lancet 24 Dec. 1423/1 There is a large variety of arrangements throughout Scotland for taking cervical smears. 1967 Guardian 17 May 4/5 The pill and the cervical coil gave women protection against..enforced pregnancy. |
2. as n. = Cervical nerve, vertebra, etc.
| 1767 Gooch Treat. Wounds I. 369 The phrenic nerve is derived from the cervicals. 1875 Blake Zool. 2 The cervicals are 7 in number. |
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Add: 3. Special collocations: cervical screening Gynæcol., the screening of women for early symptoms of cervical cancer.
| 1967 Spectator 28 July 98/3 *Cervical screening therefore remains limited in value. 1987 Oxf. Textbk. Med. (ed. 2) I. iv. 124/2 Cervical screening, by taking a smear from the cervical mucosa and looking for atypical cells suggestive of a malignancy, was introduced soon after the second world war. |
cervical smear Gynæcol., a smear of cells taken from the cervix of the womb, analysed for evidence of cervical cancer; cf. vaginal smear s.v. smear n. 3 b.
| 1944 J. E. Ayre in Canad. Med. Assoc. Jrnl. LI. 19/1 It is thought to be of advantage to take both smears, the vaginal and *cervical. 1947 Amer. Jrnl. Obstetr. & Gynecol. LIII. 610 In the ordinary vaginal or cervical smear the profuse purulent and sanguineous discharge..frequently obscures the true..cornification level associated with malignant disease. 1966 Lancet 24 Dec. 1423/1 There is a large variety of arrangements throughout Scotland for taking cervical smears. 1986 Nursing Times 3 Dec. 34/1 She had had a cervical smear which showed a positive malignancy and had been referred urgently to the gynaecology department of a local hospital. |