lung

[ luhng ]

noun

1. either of the two saclike respiratory organs in the thorax of humans and the higher vertebrates.
2. an analogous organ in certain invertebrates, as arachnids or terrestrial gastropods.

lung

/ lʌŋ /

noun

1. either one of a pair of spongy saclike respiratory organs within the thorax of higher vertebrates, which oxygenate the blood and remove its carbon dioxide
2. any similar or analogous organ in other vertebrates or in invertebrates
3. at the top of one's lungs
   in one's loudest voice; yelling

lung

/ lŭng /

1. Either of two spongy organs in the chest of air-breathing vertebrate animals that serve as the organs of gas exchange. Blood flowing through the lungs picks up oxygen from inhaled air and releases carbon dioxide, which is exhaled. Air enters and leaves the lungs through the bronchial tubes.
2. A similar organ found in some invertebrates.

Other Words From

• lunged [luhngd], adjective
• half-lunged adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of lung¹

before 1000; Middle English lungen, Old English; cognate with German Lunge; akin to light ², lights

Word History and Origins

Origin of lung¹

Old English lungen; related to Old High German lungun lung. Compare lights ²

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. at the top of one's lungs, as loudly as possible; with full voice:

   The baby cried at the top of his lungs.

More idioms and phrases containing lung

see at the top of one's lungs .

Example Sentences

The heated blankets were used to keep patients’ bodies warm while their lungs breathed in the cold, fresh air.

From Popular-Science

The EPA considers particles this size to be a threat to human health because, once inhaled, they can get deep into the lungs.

From Popular-Science

He died in 1984 of lung cancer at age 56 — a cruel loss for readers and American literature.

From Washington Post

Even if you still have some virus replicating, but it’s much lower levels or can’t get deep in your lungs, you would also predict that you would have less long-term complications.

From Popular-Science

We have these drugs called kinase inhibitors that target specific subsets of lung cancer.

From Freakonomics

I am always sick because of the cold and I have suffered constant lung infections over the past several months.

From The Daily Beast

Eight days later their bassist, Gerard Smith, passed away from lung cancer.

From The Daily Beast

The bullet entered the left side of his chest, hit his heart and settled in his lung.

From The Daily Beast

He decided to write his book four years ago, after he was hospitalized with a near-fatal lung condition.

From The Daily Beast

While casual exercisers might not notice any difference in lung capacity, intense gym-goers might feel the effects of an e-cig.

From The Daily Beast

Frequently they are found in alveolar arrangement, retaining the original outline of the alveoli of the lung (Fig. 4, b).

From Project Gutenberg

It, or a similar bacillus, is sometimes found in the sputum of gangrene of the lung.

From Project Gutenberg

Tuberculous pleurisy due to direct extension from the lung may give excess of polymorphonuclears owing to mixed infection.

From Project Gutenberg

Owen says that the thymus appears in vertebrates with the establishment of the lung as the main or exclusive respiratory organ.

From Project Gutenberg

He had been a bachelor with an inventive turn of mind and only one lung when he met the Widow Chisholme at the Springs.

From Project Gutenberg