Pan"cre*as (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. ; , , all + flesh, meat: cf. F. pancr'eas.] Anat.

The sweetbread, a gland connected with the intestine of nearly all vertebrates. It is usually elongated and light-colored, and its secretion, called the pancreatic juice, is discharged, often together with the bile, into the upper part of the intestines, and is a powerful aid in digestion. See Illust. of Digestive apparatus.

 

© Webster 1913.