Lexic.us

Definition of Diaphragm

1. Noun. A mechanical device in a camera that controls size of aperture of the lens. "The new cameras adjust the diaphragm automatically"

2. Noun. (anatomy) a muscular partition separating the abdominal and thoracic cavities; functions in respiration.

3. Noun. A contraceptive device consisting of a flexible dome-shaped cup made of rubber or plastic; it is filled with spermicide and fitted over the uterine cervix.

4. Noun. Electro-acoustic transducer that vibrates to receive or produce sound waves.

Definition of Diaphragm

1. n. A dividing membrane or thin partition, commonly with an opening through it.

Definition of Diaphragm

1. Noun. (anatomy) In mammals, a sheet of muscle separating the thorax from the abdomen, contracted and relaxed in respiration to draw air into and expel air from the lungs; also called thoracic diaphragm. ¹

2. Noun. (anatomy) Any of various membranes or sheets of muscle or ligament which separate one cavity from another. ¹

3. Noun. A contraceptive device consisting of a flexible cup, used to cover the cervix during intercourse. ¹

4. Noun. (mechanics) A flexible membrane separating two chambers and fixed around its periphery that distends into one or other chamber depending on the as the difference in the pressure in the chambers varies. ¹

5. Noun. (acoustics) In a speaker, the thin, semi-rigid membrane which vibrates to produce sound. ¹

6. Noun. (optics photography) A thin opaque structure with a central aperture, used to limit the passage of light into a camera or similar device. ¹

7. Noun. (chemistry) A permeable or semipermeable membrane ¹

8. Noun. (context: construction) A floor slab, metal wall panel, roof panel or the like, havig a sufficiently large in-plane shear stiffness and sufficient strength to transmit horizontal forces to resisting systems. ¹

9. Verb. (optics photography) To reduce lens aperture using an optical diaphragm. ¹

10. Verb. To act as a diaphragm, for example by vibrating. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Diaphragm

1. [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Medical Definition of Diaphragm

1. The thin muscle below the lungs and heart that separates the chest from the abdomen. (12 May 1997)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Diaphragm

diaphones diaphonic diaphonics diaphonies diaphony diaphorase diaphorases diaphoreses diaphoresis diaphoretic

diaphoretical diaphoretics diaphorite diaphote diaphotes diaphragm of sella diaphragm pessary diaphragm sellae diaphragm wall diaphragm walls

diaphragma diaphragma pelvis diaphragma sellae diaphragmalgia diaphragmatic diaphragmatic flutter diaphragmatic hernia

Literary usage of Diaphragm

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Anomalies and curiosities of medicine by George Milbry Gould, Walter Lytle Pyle (1901)
"In wounds of the diaphragm, particularly those from stabs and gunshot injuries, death is generally due to accompanying lesions rather than to injury of the ..."

2. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences by Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (U.S.) (1887)
"ON THE MOVEMENTS OF THE diaphragm, AND THEIR INFLUENCE UPON THE ABDOMINAL VISCERA. 0. HASSE has studied experimentally on the cadaver the movements of the ..."

3. The Horse: With a Treatise of Draught and a Copious Index by William Youatt (1831)
"THE diaphragm. THE chest is separated from the abdomen or belly, ... When the fibres of the diaphragm cease to act, that muscle returns to its natural form; ..."

4. Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics by The American College of Surgeons, Franklin H. Martin Memorial Foundation (1922)
"PAUL, MINNES-TA THERE are a number of cases reported in the literature, in which the left half of the diaphragm was found to be in an abnormally high ..."

5. A Text Book of Physiology by Michael Foster (1899)
"The descent of the diaphragm is effected by means of the contraction of its muscular ... When at rest the diaphragm, drawn up by the negative intrathoracic ..."

6. Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical by Henry Gray (1883)
"The muscles which assist the action of the diaphragm in inspiration are the ... This causes the ascent of the abdominal viscera covered by the diaphragm. ..."

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