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epiglottis
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Epiglottis

Epiglottis \Ep`i*glot"tis\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ?; 'epi` upon + ?, ?, tongue. See Glottis.] (Anat.) A cartilaginous lidlike appendage which closes the glottis while food or drink is passing while food or drink is passing through the pharynx.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
epiglottis

1610s, from Late Latin epiglottis, from Greek epiglottis, literally "(that which is) upon the tongue," from epi "on" (see epi-) + glottis, from glotta, variant of glossa "tongue" (see gloss (n.2)). An earlier form was epiglote (early 15c.), from Old French epiglotte. Related: Epiglottic.

Wiktionary
epiglottis

n. (context anatomy English) A cartilaginous organ in the throat of terrestrial vertebrates covering the glottis when swallowing to prevent food and liquid from entering the trachea, and in Homo sapiens also a speech organ.

WordNet
epiglottis

  1. n. a flap of cartilage that covers the windpipe while swallowing

  2. [also: epiglottides (pl)]

Wikipedia
Epiglottis

The epiglottis is a flap made of elastic cartilage tissue covered with a mucous membrane, attached to the entrance of the larynx. It projects obliquely upwards behind the tongue and the hyoid bone, pointing dorsally. It stands open during breathing, allowing air into the larynx. During swallowing, it closes to prevent aspiration, forcing the swallowed liquids or food to go down the esophagus instead. It is thus the valve that diverts passage to either the trachea or the esophagus.

The epiglottis gets its name from being above the glottis (epi- + glottis). There are taste buds on the epiglottis.

Usage examples of "epiglottis".

The end of the tube will have a local anesthetic, so you should not feel the pain in the epiglottis very long.

Zora asked, shedding some epiglottis, as she tended to do when expressing herself with some force.

He tiptoed down, suppressing his inner noises by some obscure action of the epiglottis and diaphragm.

Maguire choked on it, but Ronnie snaked on, past his protesting epiglottis, forging a rough way down his oesophagus into Maguire's stomach.

Krysty followed up with an equally devastating punch from her left fist, aimed a little higher, beneath the point of the chin, fracturing the hyoid bone and causing irreparable damage to the epiglottis.

Crouch came his tongue, his teeth, his lips, his hard and soft palate, his maxillary muscles, larynx, epiglottis and lungs: all the apparatus which enabled him, ne plus ultra, to talk.

The xenologists must have worked out different pidgins for the different linguistic families: noises that a Terran epiglottis can wrap itself around, on a semantic pattern that a Didonian can comprehend.

They learned the parts of the body: spleen, epiglottis, testicles, sphenoid, maxilla, thyroid, transverse sinus, septum, carotid, humorus, orbital.