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The act of swallowing
Answer for the clue "The act of swallowing ", 11 letters:
deglutition
Word definitions for deglutition in dictionaries
WordNet
Word definitions in WordNet
n. the act of swallowing; "one swallow of the liquid was enough"; "he took a drink of his beer and smacked his lips" [syn: swallow , drink ]
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Word definitions in Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
from French déglutition (16c.), from Latin deglutitionem , noun of action from past participle stem of deglutare , from de- (see de- ) + glutire "to swallow," from PIE *gwele- (3) "to swallow" (see glut (v.)).
Wiktionary
Word definitions in Wiktionary
n. (context physiology English) The act or process of swallowing.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Word definitions in The Collaborative International Dictionary
Deglutition \Deg`lu*ti"tion\, n. [L. deglutire to swallow down; de- + glutire to swallow: cf. F. d['e]glutition. See Glut .] The act or process of swallowing food; the power of swallowing. The muscles employed in the act of deglutition. --Paley.
Usage examples of deglutition.
The chief organs concerned in deglutition are the tongue, the pharynx, and the esophagus.
At last deglutition became impossible and the patient died of malnutrition.
The epiglottis, larynx, and pharynx, in fact the surrounding structures were normal, and articulation, which was at first lost, became fairly distinct, and deglutition was never interfered with.
It is of slow growth, and as the organ enlarges it interferes with deglutition and speech.
The pain was augmented during deglutition, and almost immediately afterward he commenced to expectorate great quantities of blood.
He rapidly developed great pain and tumor in the larynx, together with difficulty in deglutition and speech.
The patient used a gilded silver plate to fix the tongue so that deglutition could be carried on.
The act of swallowing did not appear to cause distress, for he could go through the motions of deglutition without any trouble.
It is to be remarked that the spasm affects the mechanism of the respiratory apparatus, the muscles of mastication and deglutition being only secondarily contracted.
Quimbleton had to delay his reply until deglutition had mastered a bulky consignment of shrimp.
They talked all day, going out to lunch together at the Astor House, and sitting with their knees against the counter on a row of stools before it for fifteen minutes of reflection and deglutition, with their hats on, and then returning to the basement from which they emerged.
The latter possess double endowments, and not only participate in the operations of deglutition, digestion, circulation, and respiration, but are also nerves of sensation and instinctive motion.
The authors of these exciting and flattering appeals do not surround their theory with proper safeguards, nor do they tell the world that they have served up a delectable dish of Pantheism for popular deglutition.
The inferior animals—as we see them caged and cared for, and fed at one o'clock, 'precise,' in those public institutions provided for their maintenance—confine their uproar to the period immediately antecedent to their meal, and perform the actual process of deglutition with silent attention, and only such suckings, lappings, and crunchings, as illustrate their industry and content.