sperm
sperm¹
Definition
sperm (spʉrm)
noun
- the male generative fluid; semen
- pl. sperm or sperms a male gamete, esp. a spermatozoon rather than a spermatozoid
Etymology: ME sperme < MFr esperme < LL sperma < Gr, seed, germ < speirein, to sow, scatter: for IE base see spark
sperm²
Definition
sperm (spʉrm)
sperm
Usage Examples
Converse of object
- donate: In April 2005, the law surrounding donating sperm, eggs or embryos was changed.
- import: Under these Special Directions, every time a licensed clinic wishes to import sperm into the UK, they must apply to the HFEA.
- produce: Men may be unable to produce sperm for a variety of reasons.
Converse of subject
- fertilize: If the egg is not fertilized by sperm, it dies and the egg and uterus lining are shed as a period.
Adjective modifier
- motile: The time to conception was inversely related to the number of motile sperm seen.
- frozen: One idea would be to inject frozen mammoth sperm recovered from the ice into the eggs of female elephants.
- abnormal: They found that abnormal sperm was more often found in the men with epilepsy.
- mature: Those cells went on to develop into mature, functional sperm.
- male: Male sperm contains only enough mitochondria to power the sperm to the surface of the egg it doe not enter the egg.
- fresh: She said the couple had considered buying fresh sperm over the Internet, or adopting.
Modifies a noun
- whale: Lost Whales For 10 days a pod of five sperm whales has been trapped in the North Sea, seeking a way out.
- motility: In a controlled trial, 100 men with low sperm motility received either 57 mg of zinc twice daily or a placebo.
- donor: Fathers are now obsolete, nothing more than mobile sperm donors creating new drones for the States new consumer class.
- count: There has also been a fall in sperm counts over the same time period.
- injection: Title Female age is an important parameter to predict treatment outcome in intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
- donation: Actually, the only time I've ever seen an Ann Summers catalog is the time I went to give a sperm donation.
Noun used with modifier
- pygmy: March 9, 2003 A pygmy sperm whale died Saturday night after beaching itself near the Holiday Inn on Ocean Drive.
- donor: We maintain a donor sperm bank of the highest quality.
Possessives
sperm Quotes
Man's contribution to human history is nothing more than a drop of sperm.
Come; let us squeeze hands all round; nay, let us all squeeze ourselves into each other; let us squeeze ourselves universally into the very milk and sperm of kindness.
Browse dictionary entries near sperm
- spent
- Spenserian stanza
- Spenserian
- Spenser
- Spengler
- spendthrift trust
- spendthrift
- spending power
- spending money
- spender
- sperm oil
- -sperm
- sperm whale
- spermaceti
- spermagonium
- -spermal
- spermary
- spermatheca
- spermatic
- spermatic cord
