1. A muscular or myovascular device to open (musculus dilator) and to close (musculus sphincter) an orifice or the lumen of an organ. 2. The muscular tissue surrounding and controlling the aboral outlet of the stomach. [L. fr. G. pyloros, a gatekeeper, the p., fr. pyle, gate, + ouros, a warder]
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py·lo·rus pī-'lōr-əs, pə-'lȯr- n, pl py·lo·ri -'lō(ə)r-.ī, -(.)ē the opening from the vertebrate stomach into the intestine see PYLORIC SPHINCTER
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n.
the lower end of the stomach, which leads to the duodenum. It terminates at a ring of muscle - the pyloric sphincter - which contracts to close the opening by which the stomach communicates with the duodenum.
• pyloric adj.
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py·lo·rus (pi-lorґəs) [Gr. pyloros, from pylē gate + ouros guard] [TA] the most distal part of the stomach, surrounded by a strong band of circular muscle; the stomach contents are emptied through it into the duodenum. Usage is variable, with the term referring sometimes to the entire pyloric part of the stomach and at others to just a section of it, such as the pyloric antrum, canal, or opening. pyloric adjMedical dictionary. 2011.