Library / English Dictionary

ALVEOLUS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: alveoli   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A bony socket in the alveolar ridge that holds a tooth

Synonyms:

alveolus; tooth socket

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("alveolus" is a kind of...):

socket (a bony hollow into which a structure fits)

Holonyms ("alveolus" is a part of...):

alveolar process; alveolar ridge; gum ridge (a ridge that forms the borders of the upper and lower jaws and contains the sockets of the teeth)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A tiny sac for holding air in the lungs; formed by the terminal dilation of tiny air passageways

Synonyms:

air cell; air sac; alveolus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("alveolus" is a kind of...):

sac (a structure resembling a bag in an animal)

Holonyms ("alveolus" is a part of...):

lung (either of two saclike respiratory organs in the chest of vertebrates; serves to remove carbon dioxide and provide oxygen to the blood)

Derivation:

alveolate (pitted with cell-like cavities (as a honeycomb))

Credits

 Context examples: 

The transfer of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the lungs takes place in the walls of the alveoli.

(Emphysema, NCI Dictionary)

Oxygen in the lungs passes through the alveoli into the blood.

(Alveoli, NCI Dictionary)

Focal and diffuse lesions involving alveoli and respiratory bronchioles and consisting of relatively uniform atypical cuboidal to columnar cells with dense chromatin.

(Atypical Adenomatous Hyperplasia of the Mouse Pulmonary System, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

A cell found in the walls of the pulmonary alveoli; the term is limited to alveolar epithelial cells (type I and type II alveolar cells).

(Alveolar Cell, NCI Thesaurus)

A rare lethal congenital abnormality that refers to the abnormal development of the capillaries around the alveoli in the lung parenchyma.

(Alveolar Capillary Dysplasia, NCI Thesaurus)

A benign, well circumscribed lung neoplasm morphologically characterized by the presence of cystic spaces resembling alveoli, lined by a simple cuboidal epithelium.

(Alveolar Adenoma, NCI Thesaurus)

Alveolar sacs and alveoli arise from the alveolar duct.

(Alveolar Duct, NCI Thesaurus)

Of or relating to the alveoli.

(Alveolar, NCI Thesaurus)

The anticonvulsant activity of acetazolamide may contribute to inhibition of carbonic anhydrase in the CNS, which decreases carbon dioxide tension in the pulmonary alveoli, thus increasing arterial oxygen tension.

(Acetazolamide Sodium, NCI Thesaurus)

The terminal dilation of an alveolar duct that gives rise to alveoli in the lung.

(Alveolar Sac, NCI Thesaurus)