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| di·a·phragm [ d ə fràm ] (plural di·a·phragms) |
noun |
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| Definition: |
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1. anatomy muscular wall below rib cage: a curved muscular membrane in humans and other mammals that separates the abdomen from the area around the lungs
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2. medicine dome-shaped contraceptive: a dome-shaped rubber or plastic contraceptive device for women, placed inside the vagina over the entrance to the womb to prevent sperm from entering
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3. photog camera's mechanism controlling opening for light: a disk with a fixed or variable opening that controls the amount of light that enters a camera or other optical instrument
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4. acoustics vibrating disk in sound equipment: a thin disk in a microphone, telephone receiver, or other sound device that vibrates in response to sound waves or electrical signals, converting one into the other
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5. thin membrane: a thin separating membrane, e.g. the porous plate dividing the sections of an electrolytic cell or the plate of cells across the stems of some water plants
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| [14th century. < late Latin diaphragma< Greek diaphrassein "to barricade" < phrassein "fence in"] |
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