Akademik

Pharynx
: The hollow tube about 5 inches long that starts behind the nose and ends at the top of the trachea (windpipe) and esophagus (the tube that goes to the stomach).
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The upper expanded portion of the digestive tube, between the esophagus below and the mouth and nasal cavities above and in front; it is distinct from the rest of the digestive tube in that it is composed exclusively of skeletal (voluntary) muscle arranged in outer circular and inner longitudinal layers. [Mod. L. fr. G. p. (pharyng-), the throat, the joint opening of the gullet and windpipe]
- laryngeal p. SYN: laryngopharynx.
- nasal p. SYN: nasopharynx.
- oral p. SYN: oropharynx.

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phar·ynx 'far-iŋ(k)s n, pl pha·ryn·ges fə-'rin-(.)jēz also phar·ynx·es the part of the digestive and respiratory tracts situated between the cavity of the mouth and the esophagus and in humans being a conical musculomembranous tube about four and a half inches (11.43 centimeters) long that is continuous above with the mouth and nasal passages, communicates through the eustachian tubes with the ears, and extends downward past the opening into the larynx to the lower border of the cricoid cartilage where it is continuous with the esophagus see laryngopharynx, nasopharynx, oropharynx

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n.
a muscular tube, lined with mucous membrane, that extends from the beginning of the oesophagus (gullet) up to the base of the skull. It is divided into the nasopharynx, oropharynx, and hypopharynx and it communicates with the posterior nares, Eustachian tube, the mouth, larynx, and oesophagus. The pharynx acts as a passage-way for food from the mouth to the oesophagus, and as an air passage from the nasal cavity and mouth to the larynx. It also acts as a resonating chamber for the sounds produced in the larynx.
• pharyngeal adj.

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phar·ynx (farґinks) [Gr. “the throat”] [TA] the musculomembranous passage between the mouth and posterior nares and the larynx and esophagus. The part above the level of the soft palate is the nasopharynx, which communicates with the auditory tube. The lower portion consists of two sections: the oropharynx, which lies between the soft palate and the upper edge of the epiglottis, and the laryngopharynx, which lies below the upper edge of the epiglottis and opens into the larynx and esophagus. Called also throat. pharyngeal adj

Pharynx, divided into the nasopharynx, oropharynx, and laryngopharynx.


Medical dictionary. 2011.