teat

(tēt, tĭt)
n.
A nipple of the mammary gland; a mamilla.

[Middle English tete, from Old French, of Germanic origin.]

teated teat'ed adj.

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Nipple, especially the large nipples of ruminants; the cistern of the mammary gland opens into the teat cistern (lactiferous sinus) which communicates with the exterior through the teat canal(s) or lactiferous duct(s), of which there may be one (cow), two (mare), or several (sow, bitch). The openings of these ducts are kept closed by a sphincter muscle. When the lactating female is stimulated to let down her milk the teat cistern fills with milk under pressure. At other times the teat is limp. See also teat cup, teat cup liner, teat dip, teat sinus.

• accessory t. — a supernumerary teat, especially a small one; very common in cows; may be attached to secreting mammary tissue; may have separate ductal systems or be offshoots from an existing, major duct.
• t. angulation — teats which stick out at an angle instead of straight down are an inconvenience in a modern milking parlor especially if automatic cup placers are in use. Considered to be an inherited defect.
• t. blackpox — see black spot (1).
• blind t. — characterized by the obvious presence of milk in the mammary gland but no milk can be gained through the teat orifice, nor can a teat cannula or sound be passed into the mammary gland cistern. The defect may be congenital with all or any part of the teat cistern and canal not present, or the defect may be at the junction of the teat and gland cisterns. Acquired permanent blockage of the duct system is usually due to trauma, occasionally infection, and can similarly be at any point in the teat cistern or duct. See also blind quarter.
• bottle t. — a cow's teat with a very distended base tapering down to a narrow neck at the tip; resembles an inverted bottle. They are a defect because of the difficulty in putting on the teat cups.
• t. calculus — mineralized concretions in the mammary ductal system; called also lactolith, milk stone.
• t. cannula — short, narrow, 1 inch diameter round-pointed metal or plastic tube used to pass from the exterior, through the teat canal and into the teat cistern. Used to relieve pressure in the gland when the teat canal is obstructed. Well-designed ones have a bulge followed by a constriction near the hub so that the tube is self-retaining. Called also teat tube.
• t. chap — superficial erythema, soreness due usually to continued wetting; a sequel to use of a too concentrated or otherwise irritant teat dip.
• t. cistern — the cavity inside the teat. Called also teat sinus.
• congenital t. defect — includes supernumerary teats, fused teats, absence of the mammary gland and teat, absence of a teat canal or cistern, imperforate udder cistern orifice, teat angulation in cows; in sows insufficient teats, teats too far posteriorly, inverted or vestigial teats.
• t. dipping — the dipping of teats of dairy cows in a long-acting disinfectant at the end of each milking. It is an essential part of the NIRD mastitis control program. See also teat dip.
• t. fibroma — rare tumor of heifer teats.
• t. fibrosarcoma — rare tumor of heifer teats or udder.
• t. fistula — laceration of the teat wall in a lactating cow results in a permanent leaker so that milk drains out continuously and the quarter is at great risk from infection.
• t. flora — considered to be normal, i.e. without pathogenetic significance, in dairy cows–Staphylococcus hyicus, S. epidermidis, Corynebacterium bovis, coagulase negative staphylococci.
• fused t.'s — two teats joined together along their length, with a common teat cistern.
• imperforate t. — a congenitally obstructed teat due to failure of formation of the teat canal (lactiferous duct).
• insufficient t.'s — 12 is minimal in sows.
• t. inversion — the tip of the teat is inverted so that the meatus of the teat canal is in a hollow. The end of the teat may close over the sphincter and obstruct it during sucking; an inherited defect in sows.
• t. leak — see teat fistula (above).
• t. lesions — common site for lesions caused by epitheliotropic viruses, e.g. cowpox, mammillitis; trauma common cause, tread lesions in housed cows, barbed wire cuts in cows at pasture; infections, e.g. udder acne transmitted by teat cup liners or milker's hands.
• milking machine t. injuries — see black spot.
• misplaced t. — e.g. too far back in sows so that piglets cannot get access when the sow is lying down.
• t. necrosis — in piglets born onto rough, abrasive floors; may not be apparent until mature.
• t. occlusion — due usually to tread trauma; rarely a congenital defect in which case all teats are usually affected.
• t. orifice — the opening to the papillary duct; normally held closed by the sphincter muscle in the wall of the teat and elastic tissue around the orifice. Invasion through the orifice is the primary route in the causation of most cases of mastitis.
• t. papillomas — are better described as fibropapillomas of the bovine teat. May be long tag-like structures, or white sessile nodules 0.5 inch diameter or ricegrain nodules all caused by different strains of a papovavirus.
• t. photosensitive dermatitis — part of a generalized dermatitis (except in poisoning by corticosteroid); characterized by localization of inflammation to lateral teat surface.
• t. polyp — in teat cistern causes intermittent obstruction requiring surgical removal.
• rudimentary t. — standard equipment in males; inherited defect in cows.
• t. sanitization — cleaning and disinfection before milking; most farmers reduce this to a wash with running cold water followed, in meticulous parlors, by drying with a paper towel.
• t. sealers, t. sealant — are materials used to aid in bovine mastitis control.
— 1. a polyvinylpyrrolidone preparation used to put on teat skin to seal milk orifice and protect skin against infection for long periods. — 2. an inert preparation to be infused into the teat at drying off to protect against new infections during the dry period.
• t. siphon — see teat tube (below).
• t. slitter — a surgical instrument in the form of 2 mm diameter tube containing a sharp cutting blade concealed in its tip. The slitter is introduced into the teat cistern in the closed position, opened so that the blade protrudes and then withdrawn so as to slit the stenosed sphincter.
• t. slough — as part of gangrene of the gland.
• t. sphincter — the muscle in the teat wall around the external orifice of the teat; its relaxation is necessary for the rapid expulsion of milk during ‘let-down’.
• t. sphincter contracted — due usually to injury; milking is uneven with much milk left in the affected quarter; requires surgical dilation.
• t. spider — membranous obstruction of the teat canal.
• t. stenosis — partial obstruction of the teat canal or cistern as a result of injury or inflammation.
• t. stripping — removing the last of the milk in the teat after machine milking by occluding the teat at the top between the thumb and forefinger and then pulling downwards so as to express all the milk from the teat. See also machine stripping, hand stripping, handmilking.
• supernumerary t. — see supernumerary teats; see also accessory teat (above).
• t. tube — a 1.5 mm diameter metal or plastic tube with a tapered end for insertion in the external orifice of the cow's teat. Exit from the lumen is via holes in the side wall of the tube. Vary in length from 1.5 to 4 inches depending on purpose. Used mostly for the infusion of medicament into the teat and udder, but also for clearing the teat canal and cistern of debris and for evacuating milk from a quarter with a blocked teat. Called also teat siphon, teat cannula.
• t. tuberculoid granulomas — granulomas in the teat wall and lower udder contain Mycobacterium terrae. See also enzootic nodular thelitis.
• t. ulcerative dermatitis — deep ulcers in cows bedded on infected straw.
• vestigial t. — rudimentary non-functional teats.
• t. wart — see teat papillomatosis.

For a list of words related to teat, see:

• Trunk - teat: nipple

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See words rhyming with "teat."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Teat.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - brystvorte, patte, sut

Nederlands (Dutch)
tepel, speen

Français (French)
n. - trayon, tette, (GB) tétine

Deutsch (German)
n. - Sauger, Zitze

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - θηλή μαστού, ρώγα, ελαστική θηλή του μπιμπερόν, ρωγοβύζι

Italiano (Italian)
succhiotto, capezzolo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - teta (f), ponta (f) do seio, mamilo (m)

Русский (Russian)
сосок, соска

Español (Spanish)
n. - tetina, boquilla, teta, pezón

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - spene, napp (på flaska)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
奶头

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 奶頭

한국어 (Korean)
n. - (동물의) 젖꼭지, 고무 젖꼭지

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 乳首

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) حلمه ألثدي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮פטמה, דד, מוצץ‬

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