MENSTRUAL CYCLE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does menstrual cycle mean? 

• MENSTRUAL CYCLE (noun)
  The noun MENSTRUAL CYCLE has 1 sense:

1. a recurring cycle (beginning at menarche and ending at menopause) in which the endometrial lining of the uterus prepares for pregnancy; if pregnancy does not occur the lining is shed at menstruation

  Familiarity information: MENSTRUAL CYCLE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MENSTRUAL CYCLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A recurring cycle (beginning at menarche and ending at menopause) in which the endometrial lining of the uterus prepares for pregnancy; if pregnancy does not occur the lining is shed at menstruation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

the average menstrual cycle is 28 days

Hypernyms ("menstrual cycle" is a kind of...):

cycle; oscillation (a single complete execution of a periodically repeated phenomenon)

Meronyms (parts of "menstrual cycle"):

fertile period; fertile phase (the time in the menstrual cycle when fertilization is most likely to be possible (7 days before to 7 days after ovulation))

menstrual phase (the phase of the menstrual cycle during which the lining of the uterus is shed (the first day of menstrual flow is considered day 1 of the menstrual cycle))

luteal phase; secretory phase (the second half of the menstrual cycle after ovulation; the corpus luteum secretes progesterone which prepares the endometrium for the implantation of an embryo; if fertilization does not occur then menstrual flow begins)

safe period (that time during a woman's menstrual cycle during which conception is least likely to occur (usually immediately before of after menstruation))

 Context examples 

The release of an egg from an ovary during the menstrual cycle.

(Ovulation, NCI Dictionary)

The absence of a menstrual period based on the expected start date of the menstrual cycle.

(Missed Menstrual Period, NCI Thesaurus)

Painful sensation in one side of the abdomen between menstrual cycles, around the time of the discharge of the ovum from the ovarian follicle.

(Ovulation Pain, NCI Thesaurus)

These symptoms may change throughout the menstrual cycle and usually stop after menopause.

(Benign breast disease, NCI Dictionary)

A substance that prevents cells from making or using progesterone (a hormone that plays a role in the menstrual cycle and pregnancy).

(Antiprogestin, NCI Dictionary)

The first day of the female's last menstrual cycle.

(Last Menstrual Period, NCI Thesaurus)

The estimated age of a fetus, this can be determined by the first day of the last menstrual cycle of the mother or by fetal measurements obtained by ultrasound.

(Gestational Age Assessment Result, NCI Thesaurus)

The layer of connective tissue comprised of the endometrial lining of the uterus which fluctuates in thickness throughout the menstrual cycle.

(Endometrial Stroma, NCI Thesaurus)

The structure, thickness, and state of the endometrium undergo marked change with the menstrual cycle.

(Endometrium, NCI Thesaurus)

The researchers found that women who had moderate-to-severe iodine deficiency had a 46-percent-lower chance of becoming pregnant during each menstrual cycle, compared to women who had sufficient iodine concentrations.

(Iodine deficiency may reduce pregnancy chances, National Institutes of Health)