Weasand

By Heaven, and all saints in it, better food hath not passed my weasand for three livelong days, and by God’s providence it is that I am now here to tell it.

[…] Or cut his vvezand vvith thy knife.

[A]lthough the vveazon, throtle and tongue [of birds] be the inſtruments of voice, and by their agitations doe chiefly concurre unto theſe delightfull modulations, yet cannot vve aſſigne the cauſe unto any particular formation; […]

For at the Throat there are tvvo cavities or conducting parts: the one the Oeſophagus or Gullet, ſeated next the ſpine, a part official unto nutrition, and vvhereby the aliment both vvet and dry is conveied unto the ſtomack; the other (by vvhich tis conceived the Drink doth paſs) is the vveazon, rough artery, or vvind-pipe, a part inſervient to voice and reſpiration; for thereby the air deſcendeth into the lungs, and is communicated unto the heart […]

Rat. / I’ll slily seize and / Let blood from her weasand,— / Creeping through crevice, and chink, and cranny, / With my snaky tail, and my sides so scranny.

They're both so engrossed in this that they don't notice my landlady, who comes rushing out to learn what's going on. / "Why," her son explains, "he grabbed me by the weasand, it took me a long time to get my wind back."

‘Which fellows?’ Very loud now, but a tightening in her weasand.