pleura

[ploor-uh]

noun

plural

pleurae 

1. Anatomy, Zoology.,  a delicate serous membrane investing each lung in mammals and folded back as a lining of the corresponding side of the thorax.

2. plural of pleuron.

pleura

/ ˈplʊərə /

noun

1. the thin transparent serous membrane enveloping the lungs and lining the walls of the thoracic cavity

2. the plural of pleuron

pleura

plural

pleurae 

1. A membrane that encloses each lung and lines the chest cavity.

Other Word Forms

• pleural adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pleura¹

1655–65; < New Latin < Greek pleurá (singular) side, rib

Word History and Origins

Origin of pleura¹

C17: via Medieval Latin from Greek: side, rib

Example Sentences

To check for them, doctors look at the pleura, the membrane that envelops each lung.

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“But because his surgeon . said it had spread to the pleura of the lungs, they said it wasn’t a covered cancer.”

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It can detect blockage and constriction in arteries and veins, and can identify issues in the pleura, the fluid-filled membranes that line the thorax and lungs.

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In short, an abscess in the pericardium must be treated like an abscess in the pleura.

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To stick fast or cleave, as a glutinous substance does; to become joined or united; as, wax to the finger; the lungs sometimes adhere to the pleura.

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