middle ear

noun, Anatomy
1.
the middle portion of the ear, consisting of the tympanic membrane and an air-filled chamber lined with mucous membrane, that contains the malleus, incus, and stapes.
Compare ear1 (def 1).
Origin
1885-90
Examples from the web for middle ear
  • To hear the lower frequencies, they evolved an ever larger apparatus in the middle ear.
  • Sixty-three percent of the influenza-infected mice developed the flu and then also contracted middle ear infections.
  • The middle ear and auditory tube are developed from the first pharyngeal pouch.
  • As a plane takes off and lands, rapid air pressure changes inside the cabin increase the pressure in the middle ear.
  • To unstop them, you need to regain the pressure balance between the middle ear and your eardrum.
  • The major nerve carrying taste signals travels through the middle ear on its way from tongue to brain.
  • Finding a bird with three bones in its middle ear would be the same thing.
  • The signal is processed by electronics and sent to a tiny vibrating piston implanted against the small bones in the middle ear.
  • The air pressure in the middle ear is usually the same as the air pressure outside of the body.
  • The middle ear is a complex structure filled with air that surrounds a chain of three tiny bones.
British Dictionary definitions for middle ear

middle ear

noun
1.
the sound-conducting part of the ear, containing the malleus, incus, and stapes
middle ear in Medicine

middle ear n.
The space located between the eardrum and the inner ear that contains the three auditory ossicles, which convey vibrations through the oval window to the cochlea. Also called tympanic cavity, tympanum.

middle ear in Science
middle ear
  (mĭd'l)   
The part of the ear in most mammals that contains the eardrum (tympanic membrane) and the three ossicles (malleus, incus, and stapes) which transmit sound vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear. See more at ear1.
middle ear in Culture

middle ear definition


A part of the ear on the inner side of the eardrum; it contains three small bones that transmit sound waves to the inner ear from the eardrum.