cochlea
[kok-lee-uh, koh-klee-uh]
- a spiral-shaped cavity forming a division of the internal ear in humans and in most other mammals.
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Origin of cochlea
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for cochlear
Contemporary Examples
If you're born deaf, the debate about cochlear implants, children and deaf cultural rights will touch your life in some way.
Historical Examples
To destroy the cochlear nerve, the whole of the cochlea should be removed.
These fibres of the trapezium come from the cochlear nucleus of the auditory nerve, and run up as the lateral fillet.
cochlea
- the spiral tube, shaped like a snail's shell, that forms part of the internal ear, converting sound vibrations into nerve impulses
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin: snail, spiral, from Greek kokhlias; probably related to Greek konkhē conch
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for cochlear
cochlea
n.
"spiral cavity of the inner ear," 1680s, from Latin cochlea "snail shell," from Greek kokhlias "snail, screw," etc., from kokhlos "spiral shell," perhaps related to konkhos "mussel, conch."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
cochlea
(kŏk′lē-ə, kō′klē-ə)- A spiral-shaped cavity in the petrous portion of the temporal bone of the inner ear, containing the nerve endings essential for hearing and forming one of the divisions of the labyrinth.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
cochlea
[kŏk′lē-ə]
- A spiral-shaped cavity of the inner ear and the main organ of hearing. The cochlea contains the nerve endings that transmit sound vibrations from the middle ear to the auditory nerve.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.