capillary /cap·il·lary/ (kap´ĭ-lar″e)
1. pertaining to or resembling a hair.
2. one of the minute vessels connecting the arterioles and venules, the walls of which act as a semipermeable membrane for interchange of various substances between the blood and tissue fluid. 
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Capillary bed, showing the connection between the arterial and venous capillaries.
arterial capillary precapillary; a type of minute vessel lacking a continuous muscular coat, intermediate in structure and location between an arteriole and a capillary.
continuous capillaries one of the two major types of capillaries, found in muscle, skin, lung, central nervous system, and other tissues, characterized by the presence of an uninterrupted endothelium and a continuous basal lamina, and by fine filaments and numerous pinocytotic vesicles.
fenestrated capillaries one of the two major types of capillaries, found in the intestinal mucosa, renal glomeruli, pancreas, endocrine glands, and other tissues, and characterized by the presence of circular fenestrae or pores that penetrate the endothelium; these pores may be closed by a very thin diaphragm.
lymph capillary , lymphatic capillary one of the minute vessels of the lymphatic system.
secretory capillary any of the extremely fine intercellular canaliculi situated between adjacent gland cells, being formed by the apposition of grooves in the parietal cells and opening into the gland's lumen.
venous capillary postcapillary venule; a type of minute vessel lacking a muscular coat, intermediate in structure and location between a venule and a capillary.
| arterial capillary n. A capillary opening from an arteriole or metarteriole. |
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