stomach /stum″ək/ [Gk, stomakhos, gullet] , the food reservoir and first major site of digestion, located just under the diaphragm and divided into a body and a pylorus. It receives partially processed food and drink funneled from the mouth through the esophagus and gradually feeds liquefied food (chyme) into the small intestine. The stomach lies in the epigastric and left hypogastric regions bounded by the anterior abdominal wall and the diaphragm between the liver and the spleen. The shape of the stomach is modified by the amount of contents, stage of digestion, development of gastric musculature, and condition of the intestines. It is lined with a mucous coat, a submucous coat, a muscular coat, and a serous coat, all richly supplied with blood vessels and nerves, and contains fundic, cardiac, and pyloric gastric glands.
