laryngoscope

American  

[luh-ring-guh-skohp] / ləˈrɪŋ gəˌskoʊp /

noun

Medicine/Medical.

1. a rigid or flexible endoscope passed through the mouth and equipped with a source of light and magnification, for examining and performing local diagnostic and surgical procedures on the larynx.

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laryngoscope British  

/ ləˌrɪŋɡəˈskɒpɪk, ləˈrɪŋɡəˌskəʊp, ˌlærɪŋˈɡɒskəpɪst /

noun

1. a medical instrument for examining the larynx

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Other Word Forms

• laryngoscopic adjective
• laryngoscopically adverb
• laryngoscopist noun
• laryngoscopy noun
• prelaryngoscopic adjective

Etymology

Origin of laryngoscope

First recorded in 1855–60; laryngo- + -scope

Explanation

A laryngoscope is what a doctor uses to examine your larynx, or voice box. Most often, a laryngoscope is inserted through the mouth of a sedated patient. If a patient is having trouble breathing, doctors may decide to insert a breathing tube — this procedure requires the use of a laryngoscope. Another emergency use of the instrument is when a patient needs to be resuscitated after a heart attack. Often, a laryngoscope is used when the doctor simply needs to get a better look at the larynx. The root of the word laryngoscope is the Greek larynx, "upper windpipe," from laimos, "throat."

Example Sentences

He says a device called a video laryngoscope allows clinicians to stand a few feet from people, rather than directly above them, while intubating those individuals.

From Scientific American • Apr. 8, 2020

He and his crews took a hospital course in use of the laryngoscope, and Fields talked an insurance company into donating two of the $65 gadgets.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then Fields read a magazine article about the laryngoscope, a device like a shoehorn with a built-in light for looking down people's windpipes.

From Time Magazine Archive

Peering through the laryngoscope with the six-power operating-room microscope, Dr. Gould saw the polyp.

From Time Magazine Archive

A nurse ran and fetched a laryngoscope, a tube that can be used to open a person’s airway.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston