crocodile tears
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to crocodile tears: crocodile tears syndrome
tears
[tērz]the watery, slightly alkaline and saline secretion of the lacrimal glands that moistens the conjunctiva. See also lacrimal apparatus.
crocodile tears see syndrome of crocodile tears.
Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
croc·o·dile tears syn·drome
a flow of tears, usually unilateral, on eating or the anticipation of eating; this happens when nerve fibers originally destined for a salivary gland are damaged and regrow, aberrantly, into the lacrimal gland.
Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
crocodile tears
Tears and excessive saliva produced during eating. This condition is present when nerve fibers of the salivary glands grow abnormally into the lacrimal glands following Bell (seventh nerve) palsy.
See also: tear
Medical Dictionary, © 2009 Farlex and Partners