SEMICIRCULAR CANAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does semicircular canal mean? 

• SEMICIRCULAR CANAL (noun)
  The noun SEMICIRCULAR CANAL has 1 sense:

1. one of three tube loops filled with fluid and in planes nearly at right angles with one another; concerned with equilibrium

  Familiarity information: SEMICIRCULAR CANAL used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SEMICIRCULAR CANAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

One of three tube loops filled with fluid and in planes nearly at right angles with one another; concerned with equilibrium

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("semicircular canal" is a kind of...):

receptor; sense organ; sensory receptor (an organ having nerve endings (in the skin or viscera or eye or ear or nose or mouth) that respond to stimulation)

Holonyms ("semicircular canal" is a part of...):

inner ear; internal ear; labyrinth (a complex system of interconnecting cavities; concerned with hearing and equilibrium)

vestibular apparatus; vestibular system (organs mediating the labyrinthine sense; concerned with equilibrium)

 Context examples 

A bone structure within the semicircular canal of the inner ear.

(Common Bony Limb, NCI Thesaurus)

The portion of the ear located within the temporal bone that is involved in both hearing and balance and includes the semicircular canals, vestibule, and cochlea.

(Inner Ear, NCI Thesaurus)

The organ of hearing: composed of the external ear, which includes the auricle and the external acoustic, or auditory, meatus; the middle ear, or the tympanic cavity with its ossicles; and the internal ear or inner ear, or labyrinth, which includes the semicircular canals, vestibule, and cochlea.

(Murine Ear, NCI Thesaurus)