• A movement, caused by sequential muscle contraction, that pushes the contents of the intestines or other tubular organs in one direction.
  NLM Medical Subject Headings
  U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025
• A series of coordinated, rhythmic muscle contractions that occur throughout the length of the gastrointestinal tract and in the ureters. The body utilizes alternating muscles that contract and relax to move fluids and solids from one cavity to another.
  NCI
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• A wavelike sequence of involuntary muscular contraction and relaxation that passes along a tubelike structure, such as the intestine, impelling the contents onwards.
  Gene Ontology Dictionary
  Gene Ontology Consortium, 2021
• The rippling motion of muscles in the intestine or other tubular organs characterized by the alternate contraction and relaxation of the muscles that propel the contents onward.
  NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• Wavelike movement of intestinal muscles that propels food through the digestive tract.
  Harvard Dictionary of Health Terms
  Harvard Medical Publishing, 2011
• Peristalsis, involuntary movements of the longitudinal and circular muscles, primarily in the digestive tract but occasionally in other hollow tubes of the body, that occur in progressive wavelike contractions. Peristaltic waves occur in the esophagus, stomach, and intestines. The waves can be...
  Encyclopedia Britannica
  Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2025