Crossword clues for diaphragm
diaphragm
- It is filled with spermicide and fitted over the uterine cervix
- A contraceptive device consisting of a flexible dome-shaped cup made of rubber or plastic
- Electro-acoustic transducer that vibrates to receive or produce sound waves
- (anatomy) a muscular partition separating the abdominal and thoracic cavities
- A mechanical device in a camera that controls size of aperture of the lens
- Functions in respiration
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Diaphragm \Di"a*phragm\, n. [L. diaphragma, Gr. ?, fr. ? to fence by a partition wall; dia` through + ?, ?, to fence, inclose; prob. akin to L. fareire to stuff: cf. F. diaphragme. See Farce.]
A dividing membrane or thin partition, commonly with an opening through it.
(Anat.) The muscular and tendinous partition separating the cavity of the chest from that of the abdomen; the midriff.
(Zo["o]l.) A calcareous plate which divides the cavity of certain shells into two parts.
(Opt.) A plate with an opening, which is generally circular, used in instruments to cut off marginal portions of a beam of light, as at the focus of a telescope.
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(Mach.) A partition in any compartment, for various purposes.
Diaphragm pump, one in which a flexible diaphragm takes the place of a piston.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
late 14c., from Late Latin diaphragma, from Greek diaphragma "partition, barrier, muscle which divides the thorax from the abdomen," from diaphrassein "to barricade," from dia- "across" (see dia-) + phrassein "to fence or hedge in." The native word is midriff. Meaning "contraceptive cap" is from 1933.
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context anatomy English) 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. 2 (context anatomy English) Any of various membranes or sheets of muscle or ligament which separate one cavity from another. 3 A contraceptive device consisting of a flexible cup, used to cover the cervix during intercourse. 4 (context mechanics English) A flexible membrane separating two chambers and fixed around its periphery that distends into one or other chamber as the difference in the pressure in the chambers varies. 5 (context acoustics English) In a speaker, the thin, semi-rigid membrane which vibrates to produce sound. 6 (context optics photography English) A thin opaque structure with a central aperture, used to limit the passage of light into a camera or similar device. 7 (context chemistry English) A permeable or semipermeable membrane vb. (context optics photography English) To reduce lens aperture using an optical diaphragm.
WordNet
n. a mechanical device in a camera that controls size of aperture of the lens; "the new cameras adjust the diaphragm automatically" [syn: stop]
(anatomy) a muscular partition separating the abdominal and thoracic cavities; functions in respiration [syn: midriff]
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 [syn: pessary, contraceptive diaphragm]
electro-acoustic transducer that vibrates to receive or produce sound waves
Wikipedia
Diaphragm may refer to any of the following:
The diaphragm is a cervical barrier type of birth control. It is a soft latex or silicone dome with a spring molded into the rim. The spring creates a seal against the walls of the vagina.
It is on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, the most important medications needed in a basic health system.
In mechanics, a diaphragm is a sheet of a semi-flexible material anchored at its periphery and most often round in shape. It serves either as a barrier between two chambers, moving slightly up into one chamber or down into the other depending on differences in pressure, or as a device that vibrates when certain frequencies are applied to it.
A diaphragm pump uses a diaphragm to pump a fluid. A typical design is to have air on one side constantly vary in pressure, with fluid on the other side. The increase and decrease in volume caused by the action of the diaphragm alternately forces fluid out the chamber and draws more fluid in from its source. The action of the diaphragm is very similar to the action of a plunger with the exception that a diaphragm responds to changes in pressure rather than the mechanical force of the shaft.
Pressure regulators for fuel systems in automotive applications use diaphragms as part of their design. This includes fuel-pressure regulators in petrol fuel injection systems and the pressure-reducing converters in most vehicles fueled with liquefied petroleum gas and compressed natural gas.
In the field of acoustics, a diaphragm is a transducer intended to inter-convert mechanical vibrations to sounds, or vice versa. It is commonly constructed of a thin membrane or sheet of various materials, suspended at its edges. The varying air pressure of sound waves imparts mechanical vibrations to the diaphragm which can then be converted to some other type of signal; examples of this type of diaphragm are found in microphones and the human eardrum. Conversely a diaphragm vibrated by a source of energy beats against the air, creating sound waves. Examples of this type of diaphragm are loudspeaker cones and earphone diaphragms and are found in air horns.
In optics, a diaphragm is a thin opaque structure with an opening ( aperture) at its center. The role of the diaphragm is to stop the passage of light, except for the light passing through the aperture. Thus it is also called a stop (an aperture stop, if it limits the brightness of light reaching the focal plane, or a field stop or flare stop for other uses of diaphragms in lenses). The diaphragm is placed in the light path of a lens or objective, and the size of the aperture regulates the amount of light that passes through the lens. The centre of the diaphragm's aperture coincides with the optical axis of the lens system.
Most modern cameras use a type of adjustable diaphragm known as an iris diaphragm, and often referred to simply as an iris.
See the articles on aperture and f-number for the photographic effect and system of quantification of varying the opening in the diaphragm.
In structural engineering, a diaphragm is a structural element that transmits lateral load to the vertical resisting elements of a structure (such as shear walls or frames). Diaphragms are typically horizontal, but can be sloped such as in a gable roof on a wood structure or concrete ramp in a parking garage. The diaphragm forces tend to be transferred to the vertical resisting elements primarily through in- plane shear stress. The most common lateral loads to be resisted are those resulting from wind and earthquake actions, but other lateral loads such as lateral earth pressure or hydrostatic pressure can also be resisted by diaphragm action.
The diaphragm of a structure often does double duty as the floor system or roof system in a building, or the deck of a bridge, which simultaneously supports gravity loads.
Diaphragms are usually constructed of plywood or oriented strand board in timber construction; metal deck or composite metal deck in steel construction; or a concrete slab in concrete construction.
The two primary types of diaphragm are flexible and rigid. Flexible diaphragms resist lateral forces depending on the tributary area, irrespective of the flexibility of the members that they are transferring force to. On the other hand, rigid diaphragms transfer load to frames or shear walls depending on their flexibility and their location in the structure. The flexibility of a diaphragm affects the distribution of lateral forces to the vertical components of the lateral force resisting elements in a structure. 1
Parts of a diaphragm include:
- the membrane, used as a shear panel to carry in-plane shear
- the drag strut member, used to transfer the load to the shear walls or frames
- the chord, used to resist the tension and compression forces that develop in the diaphragm, since the membrane is usually incapable of handling these loads alone.
Category:Structural system Category:Floors
Usage examples of "diaphragm".
I took out the little collimating screws first, then I drew out the tube, and in that I found a brass plate screwed on the diaphragm which contained the lines.
I could see that it climbed ten or fifteen metres above me before vanishing through a sagging, doughlike ceiling which more resembled a stomach diaphragm than anything architectural.
Quoted by Ashhurst, Hunter recorded a case of gunshot wound, in which, after penetrating the stomach, bowels, and diaphragm the ball lodged in the thoracic cavity, causing no difficulty in breathing until shortly before death, and even then the dyspnea was mechanical--from gaseous distention of the intestines.
Bertrand, Fabricius Hildanus, la Motte, Ravaton, Valentini, and Glandorp, record instances of recovery from wounds of the diaphragm.
Ken was gone almost before the words had left his diaphragm, and for once Feth had nothing to say.
Every once in a while Matt would mess up and he looked so flustered that Maureen would erupt into giggles, laughing so hard that she had to press on her diaphragm to stop.
When studying her own scans, months ago, she had seen the sheetlike structures under her diaphragm and suspected she knew what they were, powerful polymer batteries, but she could not remember how to utilize them, or even what they were for.
An overdose causes respiratory failure, which begins with a heaviness of eyelids, difficulty in swallowing, paralysis of the extremities and the diaphragm, a crushing substernal pain, and ends in circulatory collapse, and death.
To succeed in this, the cyborg-bacteria should be capable of finding those nervous fibers in the body that control the heart beat or the diaphragm muscles, hooking up to these fibers and feeding into these fibers electrical pulses of very low voltage, which cannot do any harm by themselves, but these would be control pulses that commanding the heart or the lungs to stop working.
It occurred to me that land-shells, when hybernating and having a membranous diaphragm over the mouth of the shell, might be floated in chinks of drifted timber across moderately wide arms of the sea.
The muscles which control the diaphragm are located in the lower back, at the third, fourth, and fifth lumbar vertebrae.
She growled in frustration, the bass notes of her voice vibrating the tannoy diaphragms.
As the afternoon wore endlessly along, the first cramps began to strike into her belly, where all hunger pangs had now ceased, and into the overstressed tendons of her diaphragm.
I suppose she resented, most of all, the ungainly position I’d discovered her in — ‘Fainted while diaphragming herself!
I suppose she resented, most of all, the ungainly position I’d discovered her in—“Fainted while diaphragming herself!