oval window

American  

noun

Anatomy.

1. an oval opening at the head of the cochlea, connecting the middle and inner ear, through which sound vibrations of the stapes are transmitted.

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Etymology

Origin of oval window

First recorded in 1675–85

Example Sentences

I remember the first feeling of flying through clouds, spying icebergs in the north Atlantic, admiring a dramatic sunrise framed in an oval window, the flickering lights of a strange sprawling metropolis.

From Washington Post • Apr. 1, 2021

When the oval window is forced inward, as shown, a pressure wave travels through the perilymph in the direction of the arrows, stimulating nerves at the base of cilia in the organ of Corti.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

The stapes transfers the vibrations of the incus to the oval window, a portion of the inner ear to which it is connected.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

When the Bones of the Middle Ear vibrate the oval window, these vibrations are transmitted to the fluid within the cochlea and eventually cause the round window on the cochlea to bulge outward.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

I loosened my seat belt, lifted myself, and leaned over Vonetta’s head and shoulders to get a look out of the oval window.

From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia