Sex Education Glossary

URETHRA

The small tube that carries URINE from someone's bladder to the outside of his or her body. The opening to the URETHRA for a male is the hole at the tip of the penis. The opening to the URETHRA for a female is just above the opening to the vagina, and just below the clitoris. A mucous membrane covers the URETHRA. Germs that cause STDs can get inside someone's body through the URETHRA.

URETHRITIS

An infection of the urethra, the tube that URINE (pee) goes through to leave the body. URETHRITIS is often caused by an STD. A person with URETHRITIS often feels a burning sensation when he or she urinates. URETHRITIS can be cured with ANTIBIOTICS.

URINE

The liquid waste that comes out of a person's URETHRA when they URINATE (pee). Urine contains materials that the body needs to get rid of. People cannot get STDs from other people's URINE.

UTERUS

An empty/hollow organ that is found inside the lower pelvic area of a female's body. It is connected to both of the fallopian tubes and to the vagina. It is the shape and size of an upside down pear. This is the place where a fetus grows if a woman gets pregnant. The UTERUS is muscular and can stretch bigger as the fetus grows. After nine months the muscles of the vagina push the fetus out of the UTERUS. Each month, during a part of a woman's menstrual cycle the UTERUS gets ready to help a baby grow by making thick walls of blood. If a woman doesn't get pregnant then this blood flows out of the body.