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oxygen mask

American

noun

a masklike device placed or worn over the nose and mouth when inhaling supplementary oxygen from an attached tank.

oxygen mask British

noun

a device, worn over the nose and mouth, to which oxygen is supplied from a cylinder or other source: used to aid breathing

"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

Noun Inflected Forms

oxygen masks

plural

Etymology

Origin of oxygen mask

First recorded in 1915–20

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.

You’ve heard the instructions: “Put on your own oxygen mask before putting one on your child.”

From MarketWatch • Jan. 5, 2026

“To be clear: had I not donned my oxygen mask on that July flight, we would have killed every person on that aircraft,” Tellman wrote in a letter to his union detailing the experience.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025

Like they say on airplanes, put on your own oxygen mask before helping others with theirs.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2025

TV images showed Katoa being fitted with an oxygen mask and put on a stretcher.

From Barron's • Nov. 3, 2025

He found Ngawang lying in a tent, attended by a Sherpa who had allowed Ngawang to remove his oxygen mask.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023