| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| alveolus |
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| SYLLABICATION: | al·ve·o·lus |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   l-v   -ls |
| NOUN: | Inflected forms: pl. al·ve·o·li (-l  )
1. A small angular cavity or pit, such as a honeycomb cell. 2. A tooth socket in the jawbone. 3. A tiny, thin-walled, capillary-rich sac in the lungs where the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place. Also called air sac. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Latin, small hollow, diminutive of alveus, a hollow, from alvus, belly.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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