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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Alveoli

Alveolus \Al*ve"o*lus\ ([a^]l*v[=e]"[-o]*l[u^]s), n.; pl. Alveoli (-l[imac]). [L., a small hollow or cavity, dim. of alveus: cf. F. alv['e]ole. See Alveary.]

  1. A cell in a honeycomb.

  2. (Zo["o]l.) A small cavity in a coral, shell, or fossil

  3. (Anat.) A small depression, sac, or vesicle, as the socket of a tooth, the air cells of the lungs, the ultimate saccules of glands, etc. [1913 Webster] ||

Wiktionary
alveoli

n. (en-irregular plural of: alveolus)

WordNet
alveolus
  1. n. a tiny sac for holding air in the lungs; formed by the terminal dilation of tiny air passageways [syn: air sac, air cell]

  2. a bony socket in the alveolar ridge that holds a tooth [syn: tooth socket]

  3. [also: alveoli (pl)]

alveoli

See alveolus

Usage examples of "alveoli".

She stopped and looked in a side chapel where bronchioles narrowed to alveoli.

But we’ll also look inside the alveoli of his lungs, and the tiny capillaries of his fingertips.

The air came hot into his lungs, searing the delicate alveoli with every slow breath.

A little matter of all the alveoli in your lungs being ruptured by exposure to vacuum.

She grabbed the perch by the door bubble and paused to flow new alveoli into her lungs to make up for the oxygen-depleted, carbon-dioxide-enriched air mix in the greenhouse.