Alveolar
//alˈviː.əl.ə// adj, noun
adj, noun ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An alveolar consonant.
- 2 a consonant articulated with the tip of the tongue near the gum ridge wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Relating to the alveoli (small air sacs) of the lungs. not-comparable, relational
- 2 Relating to the jaw ridge containing the tooth sockets. not-comparable, relational
- 3 Formed with the tongue touching or approaching the inner ridge of the gums of the upper front teeth. not-comparable
"In the case of the Wubuy alveolar versus retroflex contrast for instance, we argue that the phonetic overlap is so great that native listeners can behave as if this were an instance of a good and a 'less good' instance of a single category (CG)."
- 4 Relating to the glands with secretory cells about a central space. not-comparable, relational
Adjective
- 1 pertaining to the tiny air sacs of the lungs wordnet
- 2 pertaining to the sockets of the teeth or that part of the upper jaw wordnet
Example
More examples"Tim produced a perfect alveolar trill for a straight minute. The rest of the Spanish class envied and despised this vulgar display of power."
Etymology
From alveolus + -ar.
Related phrases
More for "alveolar"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.