orifice


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to orifice: Orifice plate, Back Orifice

or·i·fice

 (ôr′ə-fĭs, ŏr′-)
n.
An opening, especially to a cavity or passage of the body; a mouth or vent.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin ōrificium : Latin ōs, ōr-, mouth; see ōs- in Indo-European roots + Latin -ficium, a making, doing (from facere, to make; see dhē- in Indo-European roots).]

or′i·fi′cial (-fĭsh′əl) adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

orifice

(ˈɒrɪfɪs)
n
chiefly Technical an opening or mouth into a cavity; vent; aperture
[C16: via French from Late Latin ōrificium, from Latin ōs mouth + facere to make]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

or•i•fice

(ˈɔr ə fɪs, ˈɒr-)

n.
an opening or aperture, as of a tube or pipe; a mouthlike opening or hole; mouth; vent.
[1535–45; < Middle French < Latin ōrificium=ōr- (s. of ōs) mouth + -fic-, comb. form of facere to make, do1]
or`i•fi′cial (-ˈfɪʃ əl) adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.orifice - an aperture or hole that opens into a bodily cavityorifice - an aperture or hole that opens into a bodily cavity; "the orifice into the aorta from the lower left chamber of the heart"
vent - external opening of urinary or genital system of a lower vertebrate
blastopore - the opening into the archenteron
aortic orifice - the orifice from the lower left chamber of the heart to the aorta
stoma - a mouth or mouthlike opening (especially one created by surgery on the surface of the body to create an opening to an internal organ)
passageway, passage - a path or channel or duct through or along which something may pass; "the nasal passages"
porta hepatis - opening for major blood vessels to enter and leave the liver
spiracle - a breathing orifice
mouth - the externally visible part of the oral cavity on the face and the system of organs surrounding the opening; "she wiped lipstick from her mouth"
os - a mouth or mouthlike opening
cervix uteri, uterine cervix, cervix - necklike opening to the uterus
fenestra - a small opening covered with membrane (especially one in the bone between the middle and inner ear)
cardia - the opening into the stomach and that part of the stomach connected to the esophagus
introitus - entrance or opening to a hollow organ or tube (especially the vaginal opening); "the introitus of the vagina"
external orifice, urethral orifice - the orifice through which urine is discharged
pylorus - a small circular opening between the stomach and the duodenum
anus - the excretory opening at the end of the alimentary canal
fontanel, fontanelle, soft spot - any membranous gap between the bones of the cranium in an infant or fetus
naris - any of the openings to the nasal cavities that allow air to flow through the cavities to the pharynx
rima - a narrow elongated opening or fissure between two symmetrical parts
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

orifice

noun opening, space, hole, split, mouth, gap, rent, breach, vent, pore, rupture, aperture, cleft, chink, fissure, perforation, interstice Viruses get into the body via any convenient orifice.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

orifice

noun
An open space allowing passage:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

orifice

[ˈɒrɪfɪs] Norificio m
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

orifice

[ˈɒrəfɪs] norifice m
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

orifice

nÖffnung f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

orifice

[ˈɒrɪfɪs] norifizio
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

or·i·fice

n. orificio, salida, boquete, abertura.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

orifice

n orificio
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
At the summit was a circular orifice, by which I had caught the slight gleam of light, evidently daylight.
It became necessary to employ very powerful pumps and compressed-air engines to drain it off, so as to close up the orifice from whence it issued; just as one stops a leak on board ship.
"Stopcocks, of which one has an orifice twice the size of the other, communicate between these receptacles and a fourth one, which is called the mixture reservoir, since in it the two gases obtained by the decomposition of the water do really commingle.
Daylight was filtering into the well from the orifice far above his head.
The three travelers approached the orifice of the enormous cast-iron tube, and a crane let them down to the conical top of the projectile.
The proportional width of the gape of mouth, the proportional length of the eyelids, of the orifice of the nostrils, of the tongue (not always in strict correlation with the length of beak), the size of the crop and of the upper part of the oesophagus; the development and abortion of the oil-gland; the number of the primary wing and caudal feathers; the relative length of wing and tail to each other and to the body; the relative length of leg and of the feet; the number of scutellae on the toes, the development of skin between the toes, are all points of structure which are variable.
But when the disease was more stubborn and violent, he let in the muzzle while the bellows were full of wind, which he discharged into the body of the patient; then withdrew the instrument to replenish it, clapping his thumb strongly against the orifice of then fundament; and this being repeated three or four times, the adventitious wind would rush out, bringing the noxious along with it, (like water put into a pump), and the patient recovered.
This at once recalled to Adam's mind the light quivering above the well-hole in the darkness of that inner room at Diana's Grove, Oolanga's awful shriek, and the hideous black face, now grown grey with terror, disappearing into the impenetrable gloom of the mysterious orifice. Instinctively he laid his hand on his revolver, and stood up ready to protect his wife.
To prevent which, I presently made a large orifice in the vein of the left arm, whence I drew twenty ounces of blood; which I expected to have found extremely sizy and glutinous, or indeed coagulated, as it is in pleuretic complaints; but, to my surprize, it appeared rosy and florid, and its consistency differed little from the blood of those in perfect health.
The spider soon returned; and an hour afterwards I was much surprised to find it with its jaws buried in the orifice, through which the sting is protruded by the living wasp.
For, after these things, it is not necessary for me to say anything more with a view to explain the motion of the heart, except that when its cavities are not full of blood, into these the blood of necessity flows, - - from the hollow vein into the right, and from the venous artery into the left; because these two vessels are always full of blood, and their orifices, which are turned towards the heart, cannot then be closed.
He applied his cups several times, and every time struck his lancet into the same place; having drawn away a large quantity of blood, he healed the orifices with three lumps of tallow.