organ

/ˈɔrgən/

/ˈɔgɛn/

Other forms: organs

An organ is a part of your body that performs a specific function: like your brain, lungs, or skin.

You might not use the word organ often, but you use organs every second; imagine getting through a day without your heart, lungs, or brain. Some people choose to be organ donors — meaning that, after their deaths, they donate their organs to people in need of organ transplants. An organ may also serve a specific function for an institution: a periodical like a newsletter can be an organ of an organization. An organ is also the wind instrument — sometimes called a pipe organ — often played in church.

Definitions of organ

1. noun

   a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function
   types:

   ovipositor

   egg-laying tubular structure at the end of the abdomen in many female insects and some fishes

   siphon, syphon

   a tubular organ in an aquatic animal (especially in mollusks) through which water can be taken in or expelled

   comb-plate, ctene

   a locomotor organ consisting of a row of strong cilia whose bases are fused

   wing

   a movable organ for flying (one of a pair)

   foot, invertebrate foot

   any of various organs of locomotion or attachment in invertebrates

   sucker

   an organ specialized for sucking nourishment or for adhering to objects by suction

   stinger

   a sharp organ of offense or defense (as of a wasp or stingray or scorpion) often connected with a poison gland

   contractile organ, contractor

   a bodily organ that contracts

   anlage, primordium

   an organ in its earliest stage of development; the foundation for subsequent development

   vital organ, vitals

   a bodily organ that is essential for life

   effector

   an organ (a gland or muscle) that becomes active in response to nerve impulses

   external organ

   an organ that is situated on or near the surface of the body

   internal organ, viscus

   a main organ that is situated inside the body

   receptor, sense organ, sensory receptor

   an organ having nerve endings (in the skin or eye or ear or nose or mouth) that respond to stimulation

   clapper, glossa, lingua, tongue

   a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity

   organ of speech, speech organ, vocal organ

   any of the organs involved in speech production

   crystalline lens, lens, lens of the eye

   biconvex transparent body situated behind the iris in the eye; its role (along with the cornea) is to focuses light on the retina

   gland, secreter, secretor, secretory organ

   any of various organs that synthesize substances needed by the body and release it through ducts or directly into the bloodstream

   cell organ, cell organelle, organelle

   a specialized part of a cell; analogous to an organ

   end organ

   a specialized structure at the peripheral end of some motor or sensory nerve fibers

   reproductive organ, sex organ

   any organ involved in sexual reproduction

   target organ

   (radiology) organ intended to receive the therapeutic dose of a radioactive substance

   taret organ

   (endocrinology) organ most affected by a particular hormone

   erectile organ

   an organ containing erectile tissue

   cilium

   a hairlike projection from the surface of a cell; provides locomotion in free-swimming unicellular organisms

   aculeus

   a sharp-pointed process especially a sting of a hymenopterous insect

   green gland

   one of a pair of glands (believed to have excretory functions) in some crustaceans near the base of the large antennae

   ala

   a wing of an insect

   fore wing, fore-wing, forewing

   either of the anterior pair of wings on an insect that has four wings

   balancer, halter, haltere

   either of the rudimentary hind wings of dipterous insects; used for maintaining equilibrium during flight

   pennon, pinion

   wing of a bird

   elytron, wing case

   either of the horny front wings in beetles and some other insects which cover and protect the functional hind wings

   tube foot

   tentacular tubular process of most echinoderms (starfish and sea urchins and holothurians) having a sucker at the end and used for e.g. locomotion and respiration

   cupule

   a sucker on the feet of certain flies

   lateral line, lateral line organ

   sense organs of fish and amphibians; believed to detect pressure changes in the water

   sericterium, serictery, silk gland

   silk-producing gland of insects (especially of a silkworm) or spiders

   muscle, musculus

   one of the contractile organs of the body

   entrails, innards, viscera

   internal organs collectively (especially those in the abdominal cavity)

   enteroceptor, interoceptor

   any receptor that responds to stimuli inside the body

   exteroceptor

   any receptor that responds to stimuli outside the body

   pineal eye, third eye

   a sensory structure capable of light reception located on the dorsal side of the diencephalon in various reptiles

   baroreceptor

   a sensory receptor that responds to pressure

   chemoreceptor

   a sensory receptor that responds to chemical stimuli

   thermoreceptor

   a sensory receptor that responds to heat and cold

   articulator

   a movable speech organ

   glottis

   the vocal apparatus of the larynx; the true vocal folds and the space between them where the voice tone is generated

   eye, oculus, optic

   the organ of sight

   ear

   the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium

   organ of hearing

   the part of the ear that is responsible for sensations of sound

   inner ear, internal ear, labyrinth

   a complex system of interconnecting cavities; concerned with hearing and equilibrium

   semicircular canal

   one of three tube loops filled with fluid and in planes nearly at right angles with one another; concerned with equilibrium

   stretch receptor

   a receptor in a muscle that responds to stretching of the muscle tissue

   external ear, outer ear

   the part of the ear visible externally

   duct gland, exocrine, exocrine gland

   a gland that secretes externally through a duct

   ductless gland, endocrine, endocrine gland

   any of the glands of the endocrine system that secrete hormones directly into the bloodstream

   excretory organ, urinary organ

   an organ that separates waste substances from the blood and discharges them

   liver

   large and complicated reddish-brown glandular organ located in the upper right portion of the abdominal cavity; secretes bile and functions in metabolism of protein and carbohydrate and fat; synthesizes substances involved in the clotting of the blood; synthesizes vitamin A; detoxifies poisonous substances and breaks down worn-out erythrocytes

   heart, pump, ticker

   the hollow muscular organ located behind the sternum and between the lungs; its rhythmic contractions move the blood through the body

   breadbasket, stomach, tum, tummy

   an enlarged and muscular saclike organ of the alimentary canal; the principal organ of digestion

   lysosome

   an organelle found in the cytoplasm of most cells (especially in leukocytes and liver and kidney cells)

   cell nucleus, karyon, nucleus

   a part of the cell containing DNA and RNA and responsible for growth and reproduction

   nucleole, nucleolus

   a small round body of protein in a cell nucleus; such organelles contain RNA and are involved in protein synthesis

   chondriosome, mitochondrion

   an organelle containing enzymes responsible for producing energy

   centriole

   one of a pair of small cylindrical cell organelles near the nucleus in animal cells; composed of nine triplet microtubules and form the asters during mitosis

   ribosome

   any of a group of particles in the cytoplasm of a living cell; they attach to mRNA and move down it one codon at a time and then stop until tRNA brings the required amino acid; when it reaches a stop codon it falls apart and releases the completed protein molecule for use by the cell

   end-plate, endplate, motor end plate

   the flattened end of a motor neuron that transmits neural impulses to a muscle

   osmoreceptor

   sensory end organ that responds to changes in osmotic pressure

   precordium

   the external surface of the body overlying the heart and stomach

   crotch, genital organ, genitalia, genitals, private parts, privates

   external sex organ

   female internal reproductive organ

   the reproductive organs of a woman

   male internal reproductive organ

   the reproductive organs of a man

   male reproductive gland

   the reproductive organs of a man

   respiratory organ

   any organ involved in the process of respiration

   larynx, voice box

   a cartilaginous structure at the top of the trachea; contains elastic vocal cords that are the source of the vocal tone in speech

   bowel, gut, intestine

   the part of the alimentary canal between the stomach and the anus

   hindgut

   the caudal part of the alimentary canal in vertebrate embryos

   mamilla, mammilla, nipple, pap, teat, tit

   the small projection of a mammary gland

   type of:

   body part

   any part of an organism such as an organ or extremity
2. noun

   a government agency or instrument devoted to the performance of some specific function
   “The Census Bureau is an organ of the Commerce Department”

   type of:

   agency, authority, bureau, federal agency, government agency, office

   an administrative unit of government
3. noun

   wind instrument whose sound is produced by means of pipes arranged in sets supplied with air from a bellows and controlled from a large complex musical keyboard
   synonyms: pipe organ

   type of:

   keyboard instrument

   a musical instrument that is played by means of a keyboard

   wind, wind instrument

   a musical instrument in which the sound is produced by an enclosed column of air that is moved by the breath
4. noun

   a free-reed instrument in which air is forced through the reeds by bellows
   synonyms: harmonium, reed organ

   type of:

   free-reed instrument

   a wind instrument with a free reed
5. noun

   (music) an electronic simulation of a pipe organ
   synonyms: Hammond organ, electric organ, electronic organ

   type of:

   electronic instrument, electronic musical instrument

   a musical instrument that generates sounds electronically
6. noun

   a periodical that is published by a special interest group
   “the organ of the communist party”

   types:

   house organ

   a periodical published by a business firm for its employees and customers

   type of:

   periodical

   a publication that appears at fixed intervals