glottal

adjective

glot·​tal ˈglä-tᵊl 

: of, relating to, or produced in or by the glottis

glottal constriction

Examples of glottal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Meanwhile, a weasel-like animal called a fisher waited nearby, making glottal noises inside a wire trap. — Elizabeth Miller, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Mar. 2022

The language is famously difficult with tones and glottal stops unlike anything in English. — David Kelly, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2021

There’s a special note of aggressive contempt that can be layered into the diphthongs and glottal stops of what linguists call Inland North American English, and Carone used it lavishly. — New York Times, 17 Dec. 2020

Sloppy enunciation, glottal mayhem, off-kilter expressiveness and a general airlessness have killed some books read by the very person who created them. — Dallas News, 20 Aug. 2019

Sloppy enunciation, glottal mayhem, off-kilter expressiveness, and a general airlessness have killed some books read by the very person who created them. — Katherine A. Powers, Washington Post, 5 Aug. 2019

King’s shudders and vibratos, half-shouts and glottal stops have become a synecdoche for the ongoing struggle for American freedom. — Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 15 May 2017

Word History

Etymology

probably borrowed from French glottale, borrowed from New Latin glōttālis, from glōttis glottis + Latin -ālis -al entry 1

First Known Use

circa 1846, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing glottal

• glottal stop

Rhymes for glottal

• bottle
• cottle
• mottle
• pottle
• scrotal
• throttle
• wattle
• chrysotile
• nahuatl

Medical Definition

glottal

adjective

glot·​tal ˈglät-ᵊl 

variants also glottic

-ik 

: of, relating to, or produced in or by the glottis

glottal constriction