Crossword clues for esophagus
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Esophagus \E*soph"a*gus\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. o'isofa`gos; root of o'i`sw which is used as future of fe`rein to bear, carry (cf. Skr. v[=i] to go, drive) + fagei^n to eat.] (Anat.) That part of the alimentary canal between the pharynx and the stomach; the gullet. See Illust. of Digestive apparatus, under Digestive. [Written also [oe]sophagus.]
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
also oesophagus, late 14c., from Greek oisophagos "gullet, passage for food," literally "what carries and eats," from oisein, future infinitive of pherein "to carry" (see infer) + -phagos, from phagein "to eat" (see -phagous). Related: Esophageal.
Wiktionary
n. (context US English) (alternative spelling of oesophagus English)
WordNet
n. the passage between the pharynx and the stomach [syn: oesophagus, gorge, gullet]
Wikipedia
The esophagus ( American English) or oesophagus ( British English), commonly known as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to the stomach. The esophagus is a fibromuscular tube, about 25 centimetres long in adults, which travels behind the trachea and heart, passes through the diaphragm and empties into the uppermost region of the stomach. During swallowing the epiglottis tilts backwards to prevent food from going down the larynx and lungs. The word esophagus is the Greek word for gullet.
The wall of the esophagus from the lumen outwards consists of mucosa, submucosa (connective tissue), layers of muscle fibers between layers of fibrous tissue, and an outer layer of connective tissue. The mucosa is a stratified squamous epithelium of around three layers of squamous cells, which contrasts to the single layer of columnar cells of the stomach. The transition between these two types of epithelium is visible as a zig-zag line. Most of the muscle is smooth muscle although striated muscle predominates in its upper two thirds. It has two muscular rings or sphincters in its wall, one at the top and one at the bottom. The lower sphincter helps to prevent reflux of acidic stomach content. The esophagus has a rich blood supply and venous drainage. Its smooth muscle is innervated by involuntary nerves ( sympathetic nerves via the sympathetic trunk and parasympathetic nerves via the vagus nerve) and in addition voluntary nerves ( lower motor neurons) which are carried in the vagus nerve to innervate its striated muscle.
The esophagus may be affected by gastric reflux, cancer, prominent dilated blood vessels called varices that can bleed heavily, tears, constrictions, and disorders of motility. Diseases may cause difficulty swallowing ( dysphagia), painful swallowing ( odynophagia), chest pain, or cause no symptoms at all. Clinical investigations include X-rays when swallowing barium, endoscopy, and CT scans.
Usage examples of "esophagus".
At the autopsy it was found that an abscess communicating with the trachea had been formed in the pharynx and esophagus.
Gross speaks of a man of thirty who was in the habit of giving exhibitions of sword-swallowing in public houses, and who injured his esophagus to such an extent as to cause abscess and death.
The chief organs concerned in deglutition are the tongue, the pharynx, and the esophagus.
Postmortem it was found that the inferior extremity of the esophagus to the extent of about two inches was converted into a ligamentous cord.
In some instances among the lower classes these obturators are simple pieces of wood, so fashioned as to fit into the palatine cleft, and not infrequently the obturator has been swallowed, causing obstruction of the air-passages or occluding the esophagus.
The ganglia situated over the esophagus of insects correspond to the medulla oblongata in man, in which originate the spinal accessory, glosso-pharyngeal, and pneumogastric nerves.
He used a single swift slash that severed the trachea, the esophagus, the vagus nerves, the carotid artery, and the jugular vein.
The explanation of these exhibitions is as follows: The instrument enters the mouth and pharynx, then the esophagus, traverses the cardiac end of the stomach, and enters the latter as far as the antrum of the pylorus, the small culdesac of the stomach.
These glands are most numerous in the Pharynx, Esophagus, Trachea, Bronchia, Vagina and Urethra.
Hammond added that, when acquired, merycism was almost invariably the result of over-eating and loading the esophagus, or the result of fast eating.
Planque speaks of a small bone perforating the esophagus and extracted through the skin.
Wirth, Fine, and Evers, all mention perforating wounds of the trachea and esophagus with recoveries.
Then he tied off the carotid arteries, clamped the trachea and esophagus, cut through the diaphragm and the pleural sac, and removed the heart and the lungs together.
The ball entered the right shoulder, immediately over the suprascapular notch, passed superficially upward and forward into the neck, wounding the esophagus posteriorly at a point opposite the thyroid cartilage, and lodged in the left side of the neck.
An operation on the esophagus was immediately commenced, but abandoned, and an attempt made to push the fish down with a probang, which was, in a measure, successful.