vocal cords

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plural noun Anatomy.

either of the two pairs of folds of mucous membrane projecting into the cavity of the larynx.

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Compare true vocal cords, false vocal cords.

Origin of vocal cords

First recorded in 1850–55

Words nearby vocal cords

vocabulary, vocabulary entry, vocal, vocal cord, vocal cord nodules, vocal cords, vocal fold, vocal folds, vocal fremitus, vocal fry, vocalic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use vocal cords in a sentence

I ended up developing a blister on one of my vocal cords, so that kinda sucked.
Deer Tick's John McCauley on Ten Years in Rock and Roll|James Joiner|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Jessen was named a Mormon bishop, but the appointment was met with vocal protests.
The Luxury Homes That Torture and Your Tax Dollars Built|Michael Daly|December 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa is a vocal proponent of gender diversity.
Tech’s Male ‘Feminists’ Aren’t Helping|Cate Huston, Karen Catlin|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One, from a short preview of her rehearsal performance, is that Williams certainly boasts the vocal chops to do the part justice.
The Cast of ‘Peter Pan Live!’ Knows You Hatewatched ‘The Sound of Music’|Kevin Fallon|December 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Cooke describes Joplin as being “always on the prowl and vocal about it.”
Janis Joplin’s Kozmic Blues|William O’Connor|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To supply the demand for galvanised signalling and fencing cords, the machines must turn out 15,000 yards of strand per day.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham|Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell
If domestic manures are applied, use about twelve cords to the acre, composting before plowing under.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
He made right for the King's pavilion, and, shouting his war-cry, actually 'cut two or three of its cords.'
King Robert the Bruce|A. F. Murison
Then my profit on twenty-five thousand cords of pulpwood—which is goin' to be paid, I jedge.
Scattergood Baines|Clarence Budington Kelland
There is a copper-plate representing the dragging the prisoner with cords, and felling him with a club.
Journal of a Voyage to Brazil|Maria Graham

British Dictionary definitions for vocal cords

vocal cords

pl n

either of two pairs of mucomembranous folds in the larynx. The upper pair (false vocal cords) are not concerned with vocal production; the lower pair (true vocal cords or vocal folds) can be made to vibrate and produce sound when air from the lungs is forced over themSee also glottis Related adjective: glottal

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

Scientific definitions for vocal cords

vocal cords

[ vō′kəl ]

The two folded pairs of membranes in the larynx (voice box) that vibrate when air that is exhaled passes through them, producing sound.

Cultural definitions for vocal cords

vocal cords

Two folds of tissue located in the larynx that vibrate when air passes over them, producing the sound waves associated with talking and singing.

vocal cords

Origin of vocal cords

Words nearby vocal cords

Words related to vocal cords

How to use vocal cords in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for vocal cords

Scientific definitions for vocal cords

Cultural definitions for vocal cords