from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. A developmental defect marked by the failure of the testes to descend into the scrotum.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Retention of the testicles in the cavity of the abdomen, owing to the failure of the organs to descend from their primitive position into the scrotum. Also cryptorchidism, cryptorchismus.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. failure of one or both testes to move into the scrotum as the male fetus develops
The testis, developed in the lumbar region, may be arrested or delayed in its transit to the scrotum (cryptorchism).
Many instances of rudimentary development of the penis have been recorded, most of them complicated with cryptorchism or other abnormality of the sexual organs.
The illusion was greater, as in this remarkable case gynecomastism was associated with cryptorchism -- that is to say, the testicles had kept to their original place in the visceral cavity, and had not travelled in the normal way down into the scrotum.