lung

[luhng] /lʌŋ/
noun
1.
either of the two saclike respiratory organs in the thorax of humans and the higher vertebrates.
2.
an analogous organ in certain invertebrates, as arachnids or terrestrial gastropods.
Idioms
3.
at the top of one's lungs, as loudly as possible; with full voice:
The baby cried at the top of his lungs.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English lungen, Old English; cognate with German Lunge; akin to light2, lights
Related forms
lunged
[luhngd] /lʌŋd/ (Show IPA), adjective
half-lunged, adjective
Examples from the web for lungs
  • The function of breathing is gas exchange, which happens in the lungs.
  • Your fish doesn't have lungs, and gills only work in water.
  • Meanwhile, the lungs compress, halving themselves after ten metres.
  • Shrunken lungs give a free diver a sense of having plenty of oxygen, because it's concentrated.
  • It was as though they were sharing the stage with a set of supersonic lungs.
  • And we'd respond at the top of our lungs, as if she were deaf.
  • If in the lungs, the bacteria can actually create a hole in the lung tissue.
  • All you need are a set of legs and lungs and the effort required to move forward, faster.
  • Immune cells, including macrophages and natural killer cells, also flood the lungs.
  • Of course, they might want to start saving for those new lungs now.
British Dictionary definitions for lungs

lung

/lʌŋ/
noun
1.
either one of a pair of spongy saclike respiratory organs within the thorax of higher vertebrates, which oxygenate the blood and remove its carbon dioxide
2.
any similar or analogous organ in other vertebrates or in invertebrates
3.
at the top of one's lungs, in one's loudest voice; yelling
related
adjectives pneumonic pulmonary pulmonic
Word Origin
Old English lungen; related to Old High German lungun lung. Compare lights²
Word Origin and History for lungs

lung

n.

"human respiratory organ," c.1300, from Old English lungen (plural), from Proto-Germanic *lungw- (cf. Old Norse lunge, Old Frisian lungen, Middle Dutch longhe, Dutch long, Old High German lungun, German lunge "lung"), literally "the light organ," from PIE *legwh- "not heavy, having little weight; easy, agile, nimble" (cf. Russian lëgkij, Polish lekki "light;" Russian lëgkoje "lung," Greek elaphros "light" in weight; see also lever).

The notion probably is from the fact that, when thrown into a pot of water, lungs of a slaughtered animal float, while the heart, liver, etc., do not. Cf. also Portuguese leve "lung," from Latin levis "light;" Irish scaman "lungs," from scaman "light;" Welsh ysgyfaint "lungs," from ysgafn "light." See also lights, pulmonary. Lung cancer attested from 1882.

lungs in Medicine

lung (lŭng)
n.
Either of the two saclike organs of respiration that occupy the pulmonary cavity of the thorax and in which aeration of the blood takes place. It is common for the right lung, which is divided into three lobes, to be slightly larger than the left, which has two lobes.

lungs in Science
lung
  (lŭng)   

  1. Either of two spongy organs in the chest of air-breathing vertebrate animals that serve as the organs of gas exchange. Blood flowing through the lungs picks up oxygen from inhaled air and releases carbon dioxide, which is exhaled. Air enters and leaves the lungs through the bronchial tubes.

  2. A similar organ found in some invertebrates.


lungs in Culture

lungs definition


A pair of organs, the principal parts of the respiratory system, at the front of the cavity of the chest, or thorax. In the lungs, oxygen from the air that is inhaled is transferred into the blood, while carbon dioxide is removed from the blood and exhaled.

Slang definitions & phrases for lungs

lungs

noun

A woman's breasts; boob, knockers: pushed a whole blouse full of lungs against my arm/ She has a great pair of lungs


Idioms and Phrases with lungs

lung

see: at the top of one's lungs