- larynx
- larynx lar"ynx (l[a^]r"[i^][ng]ks; 277), n. [NL. from Gr.
la`rygx, la`ryggos.] (Anat.)
The expanded upper end of the windpipe or trachea, connected
with the hyoid bone or cartilage. It contains the vocal
cords, which produce the voice by their vibrations, when they
are stretched and a current of air passes between them. The
larynx is connected with the pharynx by an opening, the
glottis, which, in mammals, is protected by a lidlike
epiglottis.
[1913 Webster]
Note: In the framework of the human larynx, the thyroid cartilage, attached to the hyoid bone, makes the protuberance on the front of the neck known as Adam's apple, and is articulated below to the ringlike cricoid cartilage. This is narrow in front and high behind, where, within the thyroid, it is surmounted by the two arytenoid cartilages, from which the vocal cords pass forward to be attached together to the front of the thyroid. See {Syrinx}. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.