Anat. [a. late L. ūrēthra (whence F. urèthre, urètre, It., Sp., Pg. uretra, Pg. urethra), a. Gr. οὐρήθρα, f. οὐρεῖν to urinate.] The membranous tube or canal through which the urine is discharged from the bladder.
1634. Johnson, trans. Paré’s Wks., XIX. i. 723. There bee some who have the Urethra or passage of the yard obstructed by budding caruncles.
1638. A. Reid, Anat. Body of Man, 215. There is no conspicuous passage, by the which the seed passeth into the urethra.
1682. T. Gibson, Anat., xix. (1684), 127. In Men it [sc. the neck of the bladder] is longer and narrower, and … opens into the Urethra.
1732. Arbuthnot, Rules of Diet, iv. (1736), 428. In the Urethra, or Passage of the Urine from the Bladder.
c. 1790. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), V. 271/2. The urethra … terminates in the podex.
1840. G. V. Ellis, Anat., 584. The urethra … reaches from the bladder to the extremity of the penis in the male, or to the vulva in the female.
1880. Lancet, 24 Jan., 119/1. The urethræ of men differ in calibre.
1884. W. Pye, Surg. Handicraft, 465. Normal urethras differ greatly in their calibre.
attrib. and Comb. 1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., 2684/2. Urethra-cutter..., an instrument for enlarging the urethral canal … in case of stricture. Ibid., Urethra-syringe,… a syringe with a long nozzle.
