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What is "ampullae"

The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ampullae

Ampulla \Am*pul"la\, n.; pl. Ampull[ae]. [L. ]

  1. (Rom. Antiq.) A narrow-necked vessel having two handles and bellying out like a jug.

  2. (Eccl.)

    1. A cruet for the wine and water at Mass.

    2. The vase in which the holy oil for chrism, unction, or coronation is kept.
      --Shipley.

  3. (Biol.) Any membranous bag shaped like a leathern bottle, as the dilated end of a vessel or duct; especially the dilations of the semicircular canals of the ear.

WordNet
ampullae

See ampulla

ampulla

  1. n. the dilated portion of a canal or duct especially of the semicircular canals of the ear

  2. a flask that has two handles; used by Romans for wines or oils

  3. [also: ampullae (pl)]

Usage examples of "ampullae".

And when you come to see our dysentery here on Friday, please bring me half a dozen of Michel's finest glass ampullae.

They did not see him again, and the weeks flowed by in such a calm monotony that presently the charged ampullae came to seem absurd.

On Earth they were known as sharks, and the organs capable of detecting and crudely analyzing im­pulses were called the Ampullae of Lorenzini.