airway

[air-wey]

noun

1. an air route equipped with emergency landing fields, beacon lights, radio beams, etc.

2. a passageway by which air passes from the nose or mouth to the air sacs of the lungs.

3. Medicine/Medical.,  a tubelike device used to maintain adequate, unobstructed respiration, as during general anesthesia.

4. any passage in a mine used for purposes of ventilation; an air course.

5. airways,

   1. the band of frequencies, taken collectively, used by radio broadcasting stations.

      The news was sent out over the airways immediately.

   2. airwaves.

   3. airline.

airway

/ ˈɛəˌweɪ /

noun

1. an air route, esp one that is fully equipped with emergency landing fields, navigational aids, etc

2. a passage for ventilation, esp in a mine

3. a passage down which air travels from the nose or mouth to the lungs

4. med a tubelike device inserted via the throat to keep open the airway of an unconscious patient

Word History and Origins

Origin of airway¹

First recorded in 1905–10; air ¹ + way ¹

Example Sentences

Dr Khare said such coughs respond best to bronchodilators - medicines that open up the airways - preferably through inhalers or nebulisers, though many doctors still rely on syrups that offer only limited relief.

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“It is definitely still a severe disease in our youngest kids ... whose airways are small and whose immune systems are less mature,” Singh said.

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Whooping cough is a bacterial infection of the lungs and airways which can be fatal, particularly for babies.

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"Although the Cold War is over between Russia and the US, they're constantly patrolling our airways," Anchorage resident Russell Wilson tells me while fishing.

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For example, asthma inhalers activate receptors, which relax the airways to help facilitate breathing.

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