Lymphatic System Crossword Puzzle

Print a criss-cross lymphatic system crossword of lymph, its vessels, the nodes, spleen and thymus, and defender cells.

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Lymphatic System Crossword

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Answer key: Lymphatic System Crossword

1M2SPLEEN3HMEO4BAC5TERIARHY6DTY7VIRUS8IMMUNEA9NUSI10TONSILSNDEE11LYMPH

Across 2 SPLEEN · 4 BACTERIA · 7 VIRUS · 8 IMMUNE · 10 TONSIL · 11 LYMPH

Down 1 MEMORY · 3 HEART · 5 THYMUS · 6 DRAIN · 7 VESSEL · 9 NODE

Next step Print the anatomy crosswordPrint the circulatory system crossword

All 138 clues

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Lymph and Its Vessels 29

  • Afferent Word for the tubes that carry fluid into one of the small fluid-cleaning lumps
  • Branch Split the way a tree does, as lymphatic tubes do throughout the body
  • Breathing Drawing air in and letting it out, a movement that helps move lymphatic fluid
  • Capillary Smallest kind of lymphatic tube, which begins in the tissues as a closed-ended sac
  • Cisterna ___ chyli: the largest lymphatic tube's bottom end, widened into a sac
  • Clear See-through, like the fluid in most lymphatic tubes
  • Drain Carry fluid off, as lymphatic tubes do for the tissues
  • Duct One of the two great lymphatic tubes, which empty into large veins
  • Efferent Word for the tube that carries fluid out of one of the small fluid-cleaning lumps
  • Endothelium Single layer of flat cells that forms the wall of the smallest lymphatic tubes
  • Frog Hopping animal whose additional little hearts push its lymphatic fluid
  • Interstitial ___ fluid: the fluid that lies around the cells, before lymphatic tubes take it in
  • Larger How the smallest lymphatic tubes compare in width with the smallest blood tubes
  • Lymph Fluid, once part of the blood, that gives this body system its name
  • Lymphangion Stretch of a lymphatic tube between two flaps, able to tighten on its own
  • Muscle Tissue in your limbs whose pull, as you move, pushes lymphatic fluid along
  • Network Web of connected lines; lymphatic tubes form a large one through the body
  • One-way Kind of street the lymphatic tubes are: fluid only moves away from the tissues
  • Overlap What the wall cells of the smallest tubes do, so that fluid can enter but not leave
  • Right Side of the head, the upper chest and the arm drained by the smaller great tube
  • Semilunar Half-moon shape of the flaps inside lymphatic tubes
  • Thin Not thick, like the walls of lymphatic tubes
  • Thoracic Chest word in the name of the bigger of the two great lymphatic tubes
  • Tributary Stream that feeds a river; the word is also used for a lymphatic tube that joins a bigger one
  • Trunk Large lymphatic tube formed where many smaller ones join; it drains a whole region
  • Valve Inner gate of a lymphatic tube that lets the fluid move forward only
  • Vessel Tube in the body; the lymphatic kind collects fluid from the tissues
  • Water Fresh ___: what Lympha, the deity behind this fluid's Latin name, stood for
  • Watery Runny, like the fluid in lymphatic tubes

Nodes, Spleen, Thymus and Tonsils 41

  • Abdomen Belly; the largest lymphatic organ sits high in it, on one side
  • Adenoid Mass of defensive tissue behind the nose, where the nose blends into the throat
  • Appendix Small organ once thought to be useless, now known to hold defensive tissue
  • Armpit Hollow under the shoulder, home to a cluster of nodes
  • Axillary Medical word for the cluster of nodes under the arm
  • Bean Seed you can eat; the small lumps that clean lymphatic fluid have its shape
  • Capsule Coat of connective tissue that surrounds each of the nodes
  • Cortex Outer region inside each of the nodes
  • Fat Soft tissue that slowly replaces the organ behind the breastbone as people age
  • Follicle Group of B cells in the outer region of one of the nodes
  • Germinal ___ center: place inside a group of B cells where they grow in number once switched on
  • Groin Fold where the thigh meets the belly, home to a cluster of nodes
  • Hilum Dent on one side of each of the nodes, where the cleaned fluid leaves
  • Hundreds The body has this many fluid-cleaning lumps: not dozens, not thousands
  • Inguinal Medical word for the cluster of nodes at the top of the thigh
  • Iron Metal that the largest lymphatic organ recycles from worn-out red blood cells
  • Kidney Organ that makes urine; the fluid-cleaning lumps are said to share its shape
  • Left Side of the upper belly where the largest lymphatic organ sits
  • Lingual Word for the tonsils on the back of the tongue
  • Lobe One of the two halves of the organ behind the breastbone
  • Marrow Spongy filling at the center of most bones; white blood cells start out there
  • Mature Finish growing up, as T cells do in the organ behind the breastbone
  • Medulla Inner region inside each of the nodes
  • Mucosa Moist lining, as in the nose and gut, with small clumps of defensive tissue just beneath it
  • Neck Part of the body between head and shoulders, home to a cluster of nodes
  • Node Small lump along a lymphatic tube that cleans the fluid passing through it
  • Palatine Word for the two tonsils set left and right at the back of the throat
  • Patch Peyer's ___: one of about 100 clumps of defensive tissue in the lining of the small intestine
  • Primary Word for the organs where lymphocytes are first formed, before they ever meet a microbe
  • Pulp Red or white: the name for each of the two kinds of tissue in the largest lymphatic organ
  • Reservoir Storage supply; the largest lymphatic organ holds one of blood
  • Ring Circle; the tonsils and the mass behind the nose form one around the throat
  • Secondary Word for organs such as nodes, where grown lymphocytes wait and a response begins
  • Shrink Get smaller, as the organ behind the breastbone does from the early teens
  • Sinus Channel inside one of the nodes, through which the fluid moves
  • Spleen Largest lymphatic organ, which cleans the blood from its place under the ribs
  • Stomach Food-holding organ that the largest lymphatic organ sits behind
  • Thymosin Hormone made by the organ behind the breastbone that helps lymphocytes develop
  • Thymus Organ in the chest, behind the breastbone, where T cells grow up
  • Tonsil One of two small lumps of defensive tissue, one at each side of the throat
  • Tubal Word for the tonsils that sit where the ear tubes meet the space behind the nose

Cells That Defend the Body 38

  • Adaptive Word for the kind of protection that learns each new microbe and answers faster the next time
  • Antibody Y-shaped defender that can bind to only one particular target
  • Antigen Any substance that causes the body to launch a defensive response against it
  • Bacteria Kind of microbe that nodes strain out of the fluid, along with damaged cells
  • B cell White blood cell that makes antibodies
  • Cytokine Small signaling molecule that the body's defender cells send to one another
  • Cytotoxic Word for the T cells that kill infected or damaged cells
  • Debris Bits of broken-down cells that the fluid sweeps out of the tissues
  • Defense Protection against attack, one of the main tasks of this system
  • Dendritic ___ cell: messenger named for the Greek for tree that shows bits of microbes to T cells
  • Engulf Surround and swallow whole, as some white blood cells do to microbes
  • Filter Strain out unwanted bits, as nodes do to the fluid on its way to the blood
  • Foreign From outside the body; nodes strain out particles of this kind
  • Germ Everyday word for a microbe that can make you sick
  • Helper Word for the T cells that switch on other defenders instead of attacking
  • Immune ___ system: the body's whole set of defenders, lymphatic organs included
  • Innate Word for the general, nonspecific kind of protection, one of the body's two main plans
  • Invader One that pushes in where it is not wanted, as a microbe does in the body
  • Killer Natural ___ cell: a white blood cell that destroys infected cells
  • Leukocyte Science name for any of the blood cells that defend the body
  • Lock ___ and key: how exactly a Y-shaped defender fits its target
  • Lymphocyte White blood cell that is the main kind found in lymphatic fluid
  • Macrophage White blood cell that surrounds and kills microbes and clears away dead cells
  • Memory ___ cell: a long-lived defender that lets the body answer faster the next time
  • Monocyte White blood cell that can settle in the tissues and become a big eater of microbes
  • Multiply Quickly grow in number, as lymphocytes do when microbes appear
  • Neutrophil Most plentiful of the white blood cells that carry granules, a swallower of microbes
  • Nucleus Cell part that is notably large in the main cells of lymphatic fluid
  • Pathogen Scientific word for a disease-causing microbe, the kind tonsils guard mouth and nose against
  • Patrol Move about on watch, as big-eater cells do in the tissues
  • Phagocyte Any cell that protects the body by swallowing harmful bits; named from the Greek for to eat
  • Protein Antibodies are large molecules of this kind
  • Receptor Sensor on the surface of T cells that sets them apart from other lymphocytes
  • Specific Aimed at one target and no other, as each of the Y-shaped defenders is
  • Stem ___ cell: a starter cell from which other types of cells, such as blood cells, develop
  • Tag Mark for attack, as the Y-shaped defenders do to a microbe
  • Thymocyte Immature cell in the organ behind the breastbone that will become one of the T cells
  • Virus Microbe that slips inside cells; some defenders kill the cells it infects

Blood, Fluid and Fats 30

  • Absorb Soak up, as this system does with fats from food
  • Balance Fluid ___: the steady level of fluid in the body, which this system helps keep
  • Bloodstream Where cleaned lymphatic fluid goes in the end
  • Chyle Cloudy white mix of lymphatic fluid and fats, formed while fatty food is digested
  • Chylomicron Tiny droplet that carries fats into the special tubes of the small intestine
  • Circulatory ___ system: the closed loop of blood that the lymphatic system works beside
  • Digestive ___ system: the body system that this one helps by taking up fats
  • Extra More than is needed; this system picks up fluid of that kind from the tissues
  • Heart Organ that drives the blood; lymphatic fluid has nothing like it to move it
  • Jobs Tasks; this system has several: move fluid, take up fats, defend the body
  • Lacteal Special lymphatic tube in the lining of the small intestine that takes up fats
  • Leak Seep out slowly, as a little of the liquid part of blood does into the tissues
  • Milky White and cloudy: how lymphatic fluid looks when it is loaded with fats
  • Ninety About this percent of the fluid that seeps from the tiniest blood tubes goes straight back in
  • Nutrient Useful substance from food that tissue fluid helps bring to the cells
  • Open Not closed: the word for this system, in contrast with the loop of the blood
  • Oxygen Gas that tissue fluid helps bring to the cells
  • Plasma Liquid part of the blood, which seeps into the tissues and later becomes lymphatic fluid
  • Pressure Blood ___: the push of the blood, kept normal when fluid from the tissues comes back
  • Pump Machine that pushes a liquid along; the lymphatic system has none
  • Return Bring back; this system does that for fluid that has seeped out of the blood
  • Spaces Gaps around the cells where fluid gathers before lymphatic tubes take it in
  • Subclavian Word for the pair of large veins where lymphatic fluid rejoins the blood
  • Ten About this percent of seeped-out fluid stays behind in the tissues
  • Three About this many liters of fluid a day stay in the tissues for this system
  • Vein Kind of blood tube that lymphatic fluid finally pours into
  • Villi Tiny projections of the gut lining, each with a lymphatic tube at its center for taking up fats
  • Vitamin Kind of food substance; this system takes up the ones that dissolve in fats
  • Volume Blood ___: the amount of blood in the body, kept normal when fluid from the tissues comes back
  • Waste Unwanted leftovers from the cells, which tissue fluid helps carry off

How this list was compiled: Clues written for this site for a school unit on the lymphatic system. Facts were checked against the NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms entries for the lymphatic system, lymph, lymph node, spleen and thymus (cancer.gov), the lymphatic system pages of SEER Training (training.seer.cancer.gov) and English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). No illness or treatment is an answer. A study aid: no clue is advice about health. Licence: own work

How it works

This lymphatic system crossword puzzle prints on Letter or A4. It opens on 12 easy words, such as Lymph, Node, Vessel, Spleen, Thymus and Tonsil. "Fluid, once part of the blood, that gives this body system its name" is Lymph.

Read the full guide

Four sets after the easy one

Lymph and Its Vessels has Capillary, Valve, Thoracic and Lymphangion. Nodes, Spleen, Thymus and Tonsils has Adenoid, Marrow, Follicle and Hilum. Cells That Defend the Body has Lymphocyte, Antibody, Macrophage and Antigen. Blood, Fluid and Fats has Plasma, Lacteal, Chyle and Subclavian.

A system with no pump

Blood, Fluid and Fats is the work shared with the blood: fluid that leaks out of the blood into the tissues is carried back to two large veins, and fats from food travel the same way. Heart and Pump are answers there, each clued by its absence.

  • Print Blood, Fluid and Fats after a circulatory system lesson: Plasma, Vein and Pressure come back with new clues.

Questions and answers

What grade is the lymphatic system crossword puzzle for?

Easy Lymphatic System Words suits grades 4 to 6, with answers such as Germ, Frog, Neck and Armpit. The four themed sets use unit vocabulary for grades 7 to 10, such as Lymphocyte and Chylomicron. These bands are our judgment, not a published standard.

What are the parts of the lymphatic system?

Lymph, the vessels that carry it, and the organs that hold lymphatic tissue: the lymph nodes, the tonsils, the spleen and the thymus. Bone marrow, where lymphocytes are made, is counted with them.

What does the lymphatic system do?

Three things. It returns fluid that has leaked out of the blood, it takes up fats and fat-soluble vitamins from the small intestine, and it defends the body, filtering lymph through the nodes.

Is there an answer key for the lymphatic system crossword puzzle?

Yes. The answer key is the last sheet of every print, with the grid filled in and each answer beside its clue number.

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