larynx

plural larynges · plural larynxes

1. anatomyA hollow muscular organ of the neck of mammals situated just below where the tract of the pharynx splits into the trachea and the oesophagus. It is involved in breath control and protection of the trachea, and, as it houses the vocal cords, sound production.

   The differences in the voices of man and woman cannot but have been always obſerved; and their larynxes exhibit, on a merely ſuperficial inſpection, a great diſproportion in ſize.

   1819, Abraham Rees, “LARYNX”, in The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature. [...] In Thirty-nine Volumes, volume XX, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, […] [et al.], →OCLC, column 1

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   There is one thing, among abundance of others, in Anatomy, which has always much affected me with Admiration, [...] It is the Situation and Elaſticity of the Epiglottis, a ſoft Cartilaginous Cover to the Larynx, or Orifice of the Wind-pipe; that this Epiglottis ſhould, all a Man's life, be drawn up, for the Benefit of Reſpiration, and fall down and ſhut, whilſt every bit we eat, and every drop we drink, paſſes over it into the Gullet and Stomach; and that we ſhould ſo ſeldom have Occaſion to cough up a crum, or drop, that may accidentaly ſlip into the Larynx; [...]

   1727, Walter Harris, “Section II. Of the Wonderful Works of God.”, in The Great and Wonderful Works of God Humbly Represented: And the Just and Equal Distributions of Providence Demonstrated. […], London: James Roberts […], →OCLC, pages 29–30

   The larynx is the instrument of the voice, of which the rima glottidis is the immediate organ. [...] The change of the voice from acute to grave at the time of puberty, when the larynx undergoes a remarkable development, as well as its acuteness in females, whose glottis is less by one third than that of man, shew that the size of the aperture has a great influence.

   1809, William Nicholson, “PHYSIOLOGY”, in The British Encyclopedia, or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences; […], volume V (N … R), London: Printed by C[harles] Whittingham, […]; for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], →OCLC

   I hope to be understood as not implying that there is no peculiarity of the larynges and tracheæ, except in some genera; for I believe all have the admirable mechanism of the organ of voice differently constructed, with corresponding muscles, and distribution of nerves, producing those various modulations of sound so familiar to us, and destined for the excitement of love, as well as for other purposes.

   1830 March 16, Joshua Brookes, “XXIX. On the Remarkable Formation of the Trachea In the Egyptian Tantalus”, in The Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, volume XVI, London: Richard Taylor, […]; Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, […]; William Wood, […], published 1833, →OCLC, page 502

   The work on larynx transplantation has been discussed in the previous paragraphs. Corollary to this is the possible development of an artificial larynx which can be implanted just as an artificial heart might be implanted. Design of such larynxes might permit a quick solution to the problem of tissue rejection.

   1968 April 25, John E. Bordley (witness), Departments of Labor, and Health, Education, and Welfare Appropriations for 1969: Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, Ninetieth Congress, Second Session: […], part 7 (Members of Congress, Interested Individuals and Organizations), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 259

   The ability of Red Deer stags to lower their larynx when roaring appears to be one of the exaggerators of formant dispersal, since the resting position of the male larynx is already lower than the typical mammalian position. [...] Size exaggeration provides an intriguing, non-linguistic explanation for the descent of the human larynx [...].

   2003, John Maynard Smith, David Harper, “Indices of Quality”, in Animal Signals, Oxford, Oxforshire; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, published 2004, →ISBN, 4.2 Are Mammalian Sounds Reliable Indices of Size?, page 47

   Synonyms: voice box