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  • Eustachian tube
    Eustachian tube
    noun
    a canal extending from the middle ear to the pharynx; auditory canal.
  • eustachian tube
    eustachian tube
    A slender tube that connects the middle ear with the upper part of the pharynx, serving to equalize air pressure on either side of the eardrum.

Eustachian tube

American  
[yoo-stey-shuhn, -stey-kee-uhn] / juˈsteɪ ʃən, -ˈsteɪ ki ən /

noun

Anatomy.
  1. a canal extending from the middle ear to the pharynx; auditory canal.


Eustachian tube British  
/ juːˈsteɪʃən /

noun

  1. a tube that connects the middle ear with the nasopharynx and equalizes the pressure between the two sides of the eardrum

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

eustachian tube Scientific  
/ yo̅o̅-stāshən /
  1. A slender tube that connects the middle ear with the upper part of the pharynx, serving to equalize air pressure on either side of the eardrum.


Eustachian tube Cultural  
  1. A tube made up of bone and cartilage that connects the middle ear to the back of the mouth.


Discover More

Swallowing during airplane takeoffs and landings allows air to move through the Eustachian tube to equalize pressure across the eardrum, causing the ears to “pop.”

Etymology

Origin of Eustachian tube

1735–45; named after Eustachio; see -an

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The opening of the Eustachian tube is also within the middle ear.

From Textbooks Jan. 1, 2015

The middle ear contains the ossicles and is connected to the pharynx by the Eustachian tube.

From Textbooks Jun. 19, 2013

Following one of these infections, the Eustachian tube becomes inflamed and blocked.

From The Guardian Sep. 7, 2010

Damage to the Eustachian tube and repeated infections left him almost deaf on the right side, where he had been accustomed to placing patients, so that his chair and analytic couch had to be transposed.

From Time Magazine Archive

Incidentally, another piece of tubing in the body, the Eustachian tube linking the middle ear to the pharynx, was also described around this time, by Bartolomeo Eustachio.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

Difficulty of hearing, probably due to an extension of catarrhal inflammation from the throat into the eustachian tube.

From Time Magazine Archive

A meager description of his methods of " finger surgery " was given, whereby he claims to " reconstruct" the eustachian tube by manipulation through the mouth while the patient is under anaesthesia.

From Time Magazine Archive

Some of the solution or nasal discharge may be forced into the eustachian tube.

From Mother's Remedies Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada by Ritter, Thomas Jefferson

Causes.—Acute coryza, acute pharyngitis, influenza, scarlet fever, inflammation of the eustachian tube, gargling, bathing, employing the nasal douche or violently blowing the nose.

From Mother's Remedies Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada by Ritter, Thomas Jefferson

These originate most frequently by means of the eustachian tube, which connects the ear with the back part of the mouth as a result of the catarrh of the nose and throat.

From Prof. Koch's Method to Cure Tuberculosis Popularly Treated by Brendecke, Fr. (Friedrich)

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