airway

play

noun air·way \-ˌwā\

Definition of airway

1 : a passage for a current of air (as in a mine or to the lungs)
2 : a designated route along which airplanes fly from airport to airport; especially : such a route equipped with navigational aids
3 : airline
4 : a channel of a designated radio frequency for broadcasting or other radio communication

See airway defined for English-language learners

See airway defined for kids

Examples of airway in a Sentence

a patient with a partially blocked airway

Recent Examples of airway from the Web

Most such deaths involve suffocation, where a baby's airway was obstructed.

— deborah yetter, The Courier-Journal, "It's life or death: Don't sleep with your baby, expert says", 6 July 2017
Her lips became swollen, and her airways constricted.

— max londberg, kansascity, "Lone star tick bites are causing red meat allergy in the Kansas City area", 29 June 2017
This generally means keeping snorers off their backs and on their sides as a way to keep the airway more open during sleep.

— cincinnati enquirer, Cincinnati.com, "How to fix common sleep problems", 26 June 2017
These include coronary artery disease (the most common kind of heart disease), drowning or airway obstruction, injury or trauma that causes severe bleeding, and pulmonary embolisms (blood clots in the lungs), Druz says.

— zahra barnes, SELF, "Model Rebecca Burger Died After a Whipped Cream Dispenser Exploded", 23 June 2017
Sometimes the tongue propels saliva backward before the epiglottis has time to cover the airway.

— sara manning peskin, m.d., New York Times, "The Symptoms of Dying", 20 June 2017
Their only business with Qatar was leasing office space in Trump Tower, in Manhattan, to the national airway.

— david d. kirkpatrick, Alaska Dispatch News, "Trump’s business ties in Persian Gulf raise questions", 18 June 2017
When a person has inflamed airways, as seen in asthmatics, an increase in nitric oxide is seen in exhaled air.

— nick caplan and andrew winnard, CNN, "How astronauts are keeping you healthy from 250 miles up", 13 June 2017
Dry drowning occurs when the inhalation of water leads to a constriction of muscles in the airway, Dr. Purva Grover, a pediatrician at the Cleveland Clinic, said in a post on the clinic’s website.

— ryan osborne, star-telegram, "Texas 4-year-old dies of ‘dry drowning’ days after swim trip", 7 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'airway'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of airway

1800

Other Aeronautics/Aerospace Terms

apron, corridor, dirigible, fishtail, flat-hat, vector

AIRWAY Defined for English Language Learners

airway

play

noun

Definition of airway for English Language Learners

medical : the area in the throat through which air passes to and from the lungs
: a route along which airplanes regularly fly
—used in the names of some airlines

AIRWAY Defined for Kids

airway

play

noun air·way \ˈer-ˌwā\

Definition of airway for Students

1 : the passage through which air moves from the nose or mouth to the lungs in breathing
2 : a route along which airplanes regularly fly
3 : airline

Medical Dictionary

airway

play

noun air·way \-ˌwā\

Medical Definition of airway

: a passageway for air into or out of the lungs; specifically : a device passed into the trachea by way of the mouth or nose or through an incision to maintain a clear respiratory passageway (as during anesthesia, convulsions, or in obstructive laryngitis)—see upper airway