inner ear

noun

Definition of inner ear

: the essential organ of hearing and equilibrium that is located in the temporal bone, is innervated by the auditory nerve, and includes the vestibule, the semicircular canals, and the cochlea

Examples of inner ear in a Sentence

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These can damage the inner ear, resulting in permanent hearing loss. — Jan Burns, Houston Chronicle, "Hearing loss is serious, should be addressed quickly," 16 Aug. 2019 The results revealed something worse: an acoustic neuroma, a noncancerous tumor that develops on the main nerve from the inner ear to the brain. — Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press, "Mitch Albom: Matthew Stafford's family crisis puts football in perspective," 8 Sep. 2019 In recent years, however, scientists have learned that the petrous bone of the inner ear contains an unusually high quantity of DNA, allowing them to locate usable genetic material even in otherwise degraded skeletons. — Michael Price, Science | AAAS, "Genome of nearly 5000-year-old woman links modern Indians to ancient civilization," 5 Sep. 2019 Based on this sampling of remains with preserved inner ear bones, a surprising number of Neanderthals were running around Pleistocene Eurasia with swimmer's ear. — Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, "Neanderthals suffered from a veritable epidemic of swimmer’s ear," 19 Aug. 2019 Wear head protection: Head injuries are a leading cause of damage to the inner ear, which leads to hearing loss. — Houston Chronicle, "Expert: Follow 10 tips to preserve hearing health," 16 Aug. 2019 Shortly after birth, Caruso was diagnosed with bilateral moderate to moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss, a common type of permanent hearing loss that stems from damage to the inner ear. — Jason Duaine Hahn, PEOPLE.com, "Instagram Influencer, 19, Opens Up About Her Struggles with Hearing Loss: 'I Felt Isolated'," 19 July 2019 One is that hyperactivity of the neurons in your brainstem can overstimulate your vestibular system, the part of your inner ear that’s involved in your balance, Dr. Carroll says. — Korin Miller, SELF, "How to Tell if Vestibular Migraines Are Why You Get Dizzy So Often," 12 July 2018 The transducers vibrate as music plays, much like a driver inside of an earbud does, except this vibration makes its way to your inner ear by taking an alternate route through your skin and bones. — Cameron Faulkner, The Verge, "Aftershokz’s Aeropex are refined bone conduction headphones with most of the same snags," 23 July 2019

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

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Last Updated

17 Oct 2019

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Time Traveler for inner ear

The first known use of inner ear was in 1855

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More Definitions for inner ear

inner ear

noun

English Language Learners Definition of inner ear

biology : the part of the ear that is located within your head and that controls hearing and balance

See the full definition for inner ear in the English Language Learners Dictionary

inner ear

noun

Kids Definition of inner ear

: the inner part of the ear that is located in a bony cavity and plays a key role in hearing and keeping the body properly balanced

inner ear

noun

Medical Definition of inner ear

: the essential part of the vertebrate organ of hearing and equilibrium that typically is located in the temporal bone, is innervated by the auditory nerve, and includes the vestibule, the semicircular canals, and the cochlea

— called also internal ear