middle ear

noun

: a small membrane-lined cavity that is separated from the outer ear by the tympanic membrane and that transmits sound waves from the tympanic membrane to the partition between the middle and inner ears through a chain of tiny bones

Examples of middle ear in a Sentence

fluid in the middle ear

Recent Examples on the Web

In a 2021 study in Nature Ecology & Evolution, Quam was part of a research team that used computerized tomography scans to examine sound transmission in Neanderthals’ outer and middle ear. —Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 5 June 2024

That’s because the Eustachian tube, a narrow passage connected to the middle ear that regulates air pressure by slowly releasing it, can’t keep up with the change in pressure quickly enough. —Blane Bachelor, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Apr. 2024

This research supports the idea that the mammalian middle ear slowly evolved from the mammalian form. —Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 5 Apr. 2024

Injections: Getting injections of the antibiotic gentamicin into the middle ear can reduce the incidence of vertigo while preserving hearing in the ear. —USA TODAY, 30 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1808, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

middle ear

noun

: a small cavity that is lined with membrane and separated from the outer ear by the eardrum and that carries sound waves from the eardrum to the inner ear through a chain of tiny bones

Medical Definition

middle ear

noun

: the intermediate portion of the ear of higher vertebrates consisting typically of a small air-filled membrane-lined chamber in the temporal bone continuous with the nasopharynx through the eustachian tube, separated from the external ear by the tympanic membrane and from the inner ear by fenestrae, and containing a chain of three ossicles that extends from the tympanic membrane to the oval window and transmits vibrations to the inner ear

called also tympanic cavity

see incus, malleus, stapes