I. ˈkapəˌlerē, -ri, Brit usually kəˈpiləri adjective
Etymology: French or Latin; French capillaire, from Latin capillaris, from capillus hair + -aris -ary
1. : belonging or relating to hair
capillary growth
2. : resembling a hair : fine , minute , slender ; especially : having a very small or thin bore usually permitting capillarity
a capillary tube
3. : involving or held by capillary action
capillary water
: resulting from surface tension in the soil
capillary capacity is a measure of the ability of a soil to hold water in the surface layers against the action of gravity
4.
a. : showing or suggesting an arrangement of capillaries
a capillary network
b. : relating to capillarity or to an apparatus employing it
capillary action
II. noun
( -es )
: a minute thin-walled vessel of the body ; especially : any of the smallest constituent vessels of the blood-vascular system connecting arterioles with venules so as to form networks practically throughout the body, averaging 1/2 millimeter in length and at their widest being not many times the diameter of a blood corpuscle, and being walled by a single layer of endothelial cells that permits ready exchange of nutrients and metabolic wastes between the tissues and the circulating blood — see rouget cell