blood capillary

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blood cap·il·lar·y

(symbol c, as a subscript),

a vessel whose wall consists of endothelium and its basement membrane; its diameter, when the capillary is open, is about 8 mcm; with the electron microscope, fenestrated capillaries and continuous capillaries are distinguished.

blood cap·il·lar·y

(blŭd kap'i-lar-ē)

(symbol c, is shown as a subscript) A vessel the wall of which consists of endothelium and its basement membrane; its diameter, when the capillary is open, is about 8 mcm; with the electron microscope, fenestrated capillaries and continuous capillaries are distinguished.

blood capillary

One of the minute blood vessels that convey blood from the arterioles to the venules and form an anastomosing network that brings the blood into intimate relationship with the tissue cells. Its wall consists of a single layer of squamous cells (endothelium) through which oxygen diffuses to the tissue and products of metabolic activity enter the bloodstream. Blood capillaries average about 8 μm in diameter.