Refine this word faster
Diaphragm
Definitions
- 1 In mammals, a sheet of muscle separating the thorax from the abdomen, contracted and relaxed in respiration to draw air into and expel air from the lungs.
"thoracic diaphragm"
- 2 a mechanical device in a camera that controls size of aperture of the lens wordnet
- 3 Any of various membranes or sheets of muscle or ligament which separate one cavity from another.
- 4 electro-acoustic transducer that vibrates to receive or produce sound waves wordnet
- 5 A contraceptive device consisting of a flexible cup, used to cover the cervix during intercourse.
"cervical diaphragm"
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 a contraceptive device consisting of a flexible dome-shaped cup made of rubber or plastic; it is filled with spermicide and fitted over the uterine cervix wordnet
- 7 A flexible membrane separating two chambers and fixed around its periphery that distends into one or other chamber as the difference in the pressure in the chambers varies.
"There also were five broken panes of glass on the two huge, rubberlike diaphragms that equalize air pressure within the dome as the artificial atmosphere expands and contracts with temperature variations, he said."
- 8 (anatomy) a muscular partition separating the abdominal and thoracic cavities; functions in respiration wordnet
- 9 In a speaker, the thin, semi-rigid membrane which vibrates to produce sound.
"acoustic diaphragm"
- 10 A thin opaque structure with a central aperture, used to limit the passage of light into a camera or similar device.
- 11 A permeable or semipermeable membrane.
"The mass of liquid transported through a porous diaphragm in a given time is directly proportional to the current."
- 12 A floor slab, metal wall panel, roof panel or the like, having a sufficiently large in-plane shear stiffness and sufficient strength to transmit horizontal forces to resisting systems.
- 1 To reduce lens aperture using an optical diaphragm.
"He employs an equatorial with an object-glass having a focal length of five metres, and which was diaphragmed down to eight centimetres."
- 2 To act as a diaphragm, for example by vibrating.
"The holes and burning are caused by the part diaphragming at 20000-40000 cycles/second."
Etymology
From Middle English diafragma, Ancient Greek διάφραγμα (diáphragma, “partition”), from διά (diá, “across”) and φράγμα (phrágma, “barrier”), from the verb φράσσω (phrássō). First attested in the late 14th century.
From Middle English diafragma, Ancient Greek διάφραγμα (diáphragma, “partition”), from διά (diá, “across”) and φράγμα (phrágma, “barrier”), from the verb φράσσω (phrássō). First attested in the late 14th century.
See also for "diaphragm"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: diaphragm