What is a capillary?
Blood travels around the body through tubes called arteries and veins. These branch off into smaller and smaller tubes that reach every cell of the body. Capillaries are the tiniest blood vessels of all. Most capillaries are thinner than a single hair. If an adult's capillaries were laid end to end they would stretch 60,000 miles (100,000 km) – nearly 2.5 times around the world.