alveolus
Americannoun
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alveoli
plural
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a little cavity, pit, or cell, as a cell of a honeycomb.
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an air cell of the lungs, formed by the terminal dilation of tiny air passageways.
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one of the terminal secretory units of a racemose gland.
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the socket within the jawbone in which the root or roots of a tooth are set.
noun
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any small pit, cavity, or saclike dilation, such as a honeycomb cell
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any of the sockets in which the roots of the teeth are embedded
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any of the tiny air sacs in the lungs at the end of the bronchioles, through which oxygen is taken into the blood
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alveoli
plural
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Any of the tiny air-filled sacs arranged in clusters in the lungs, in which the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place.
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Also called air sac
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of alveolus
1700–10; < Latin, equivalent to alve ( us ) concave vessel + -olus -ole 1
Vocabulary lists containing alveolus
Human Anatomy and Physiology - Introductory
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Human Anatomy and Physiology - High School
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Human Anatomy and Physiology - Middle School
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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:
In one example, six nests were stacked within a single alveolus, arranged one inside another like Russian dolls.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2026
A focus-stacked picture of a tiny, 3D-printed alveolus, or artificial lung.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 16, 2019
The exact function of the alveolus is unknown, but it may be involved in osmoregulation.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
The partial pressure of oxygen in the affected alveolus increases.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
The first premolar is not preserved, but its alveolus indicates that it was a single-rooted tooth, placed behind the canine after the intervention of a very short diastema.
From On The Affinities of Leptarctus primus of Leidy American Museum of Natural History, Vol. VI, Article VIII, pp. 229-331. by Wortman, Jacob Lawson
Microscopic analysis of tissue from sick cows showed the virus infects cells in the alveoli, the millions of tiny milk-producing sacs in udders.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 30, 2024
Sand is fine enough that it can travel deep into the lungs, blocking off access to the alveoli, which is where the lungs hand off their oxygen to the blood.
From Slate ● Mar. 1, 2024
They drew inspiration from the architecture of the human lungs, which contain spherical "air sacs" called alveoli that enable a high interaction rate with blood within a short time.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 22, 2024
Within the lungs, oxygen is absorbed and carbon dioxide released via air sacs called alveoli.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 17, 2023
Their exchanges must in all cases take place through the capillary walls and the layer of cells lining the alveoli.
From Physiology and Hygiene for Secondary Schools by Walters, Francis M.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
