Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for cerumen. Search instead for herumliegen.

cerumen

American  
[si-roo-muhn] / sɪˈru mən /

noun

  1. earwax.


cerumen British  
/ sɪˈruːmɛn /

noun

  1. Nontechnical name: earwax.  the soft brownish-yellow wax secreted by glands in the auditory canal of the external ear

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of cerumen

1735–45; < New Latin, equivalent to Latin cēr ( a ) wax + ( alb ) umen albumen

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:

Like humans, cetaceans — whales, dolphins, porpoises — produce ear wax, and in certain species, this wax, or cerumen, builds up over their lifetime.

From Salon Mar. 6, 2022

What stark chapters of oceanic history will these projects write in cetacean cerumen?

From Salon Mar. 6, 2022

While studies conducted up until the 1960s found little evidence supporting an antibacterial role for cerumen, more recent studies have found that cerumen provides some bactericidal protection against some strains of bacteria.

From Textbooks Jan. 1, 2015

The growth of two fungi commonly present in otomycosis was also significantly inhibited by human cerumen.

From Textbooks Jan. 1, 2015

A term applied to the glands secreting cerumen, or ear wax.

From A Practical Physiology by Blaisdell, Albert F.

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training