gland

[ɡleənd] ~ [ɡlɛənd]/ɡlænd/

gland noun: a specialized cell, group of cells, or organ of endothelial origin in the human or animal body that synthesizes a chemical substance, such as hormones or breast milk, and releases it, often into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland).

Noun (1)

gland (plural glands)

A specialized cell, group of cells, or organ of endothelial origin in the human or animal body that synthesizes a chemical substance, such as hormones or breast milk, and releases it, often into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland).
1. A structure resembling a gland, especially a lymph node.
A secretory structure on the surface of an organ.
A stuffing box used to seal a rotating or reciprocating shaft against a fluid.
- The gland of a tap/faucet is usually packed with string which has been soaked in tallow or similar grease.

Noun (2)

gland (plural glands)

A compressable cylindrical case and its contents around a shaft where it passes through a barrier, intended to prevent the passage of a fluid past the barrier, used for example around a ship’s propeller shaft or around a tap, valve or faucet.

Proper noun capitalized: Gland

Gland

A commune in Yonne department, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France.
A commune in Aisne department, Hauts-de-France, France.
A municipality in Nyon district, Vaud canton, Switzerland.

gland meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

gland in Hindi

organ that synthesizes and secretes substance: ग्रंथि granthi
secretory structure on the surface of an organ: ग्रंथि granthi

gland in Tamil

organ that synthesizes and secretes substance: சுரப்பி curappi
secretory structure on the surface of an organ: சுரப்பி curappi

gland in Marathi

organ that synthesizes and secretes substance: ग्रंथी granthī

gland in Urdu

organ that synthesizes and secretes substance: غدہ ġudda

More languagesFewer languages

gland in Bengali: গ্রন্থি gronthi
gland in Telugu: గ్రంథి, గ్రంధి
gland in Malayalam: ഗ്രന്ഥി, ആന്തരവാഹിനീ കല
gland in Kannada: ಸುರಿಗೆ, ರಸಾಂಗ
gland in Gujarati: ગ્રંથિ, ગ્રન્થિ
gland in Odia: ଗ୍ରନ୍ଥି, ଗ୍ରନ୍ଥିର
gland in Nepali: ग्रन्थि, ग्रंथि
gland in Pashto: غده ǧodá, پرګی pərgáy, مرغېړى
gland in Tagalog: katasan
gland in Arabic: غُدَّة ḡudda
gland in Malay: kelenjar
gland in Indonesian: kelenjar, glandula
gland in Persian: غده ġodde, دژپیه dožpih, بالو bâlu
gland in Thai: ต่อม dtɔ̀m
gland in Vietnamese: tuyến
gland in Myanmar: ဂလင်း ga.lang:

Examples of gland in a sentence

The snake milker massages the glands to extract the full measure of venom during each milking.
Oil was able to migrate from the accessory gearbox into the magneto housing through the improperly installed gland seals.
Mehlis' gland is dextrolateral to the ovary.

All 40 example sentences with gland

Forms of gland

plural	glands

Plural of gland: glands

Origin of gland

Late 17th century borrowing from French glande, alteration of Old French glandre, from Latin glandulae (“throat glands, tonsils”), plural of glandula (“a little acorn”), from glāns (“an acorn”) + -ula (diminutive nominal suffix).

Early 19th century, probably from Scots glam (“vice, clamp”), probably from a variant of clam (“clam; clamp, vise”). Related to clamp.

From French, from Middle French glans, of Celtic/Gaulish origin, from Proto-Celtic *glanos (“pure, clear, clean”). Not related to gland (“gland, acorn”).

Words formed from gland

Phrases with gland

3 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with gland

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about gland

What does gland mean?: Gland means a specialized cell, group of cells, or organ of endothelial origin in the human or animal body that synthesizes a chemical substance, such as hormones or breast milk, and releases it, often into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland).
What is gland in Hindi?: Gland in Hindi is ग्रंथि (granthi). See Gland meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is gland?: Gland can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce gland?: Gland is pronounced /ɡlænd/ (UK).
What is the plural of gland?: The plural of gland is glands.

Words near gland in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: gland (page history and authors); Gland (page history and authors); gland (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); gland (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); gland (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); gland (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); gland (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); gland (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gland.wav.

Cite this entry: “gland.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gland. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.