airway

[ air-wey ]

noun

1. an air route equipped with emergency landing fields, beacon lights, radio beams, etc.
2. a passageway by which air passes from the nose or mouth to the air sacs of the lungs.
3. Medicine/Medical. a tubelike device used to maintain adequate, unobstructed respiration, as during general anesthesia.
4. any passage in a mine used for purposes of ventilation; an air course.
5. airways,
   1. the band of frequencies, taken collectively, used by radio broadcasting stations:

      The news was sent out over the airways immediately.

   2. airwaves.
   3. airline ( def 1c ).

airway

/ ˈɛəˌweɪ /

noun

1. an air route, esp one that is fully equipped with emergency landing fields, navigational aids, etc
2. a passage for ventilation, esp in a mine
3. a passage down which air travels from the nose or mouth to the lungs
4. med a tubelike device inserted via the throat to keep open the airway of an unconscious patient

Word History and Origins

Origin of airway¹

First recorded in 1905–10; air ¹ + way ¹

Example Sentences

Procedures to remove foreign objects, including coins, from children's throats, airways and noses saw a "significant decline", of almost 700 cases by 2022.

From BBC

The charity says young babies do not have strong necks and cannot lift their heads, meaning that their airway "can easily be blocked" in baby slings and carriers.

From BBC

"Your airways close up, you start coughing," says the chair of the Royal College of GPs, Kamila Hawthorne.

From BBC

On Dec. 19, the actor had undergone a bronchoscopy — a procedure that allows doctors to examine airways in the lungs.

From Los Angeles Times

Lawyers for the condemned argued that “pentobarbital caused flash pulmonary edema, in which fluid rushes through quickly disintegrating membranes into lungs and airways, causing pain akin to being suffocated or drowned.”

From Salon