Examples of otolith in a Sentence
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To uncover the reason behind the dramatic drop in cod size, researchers analyzed 152 fish otoliths—tiny, bone-like structures found in the inner ear—that were collected from eastern Baltic cod harvested between 1996 and 2019.
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Amber X. Chen, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 July 2025
Kitchin believes that lateral movement of the sort involved in rollerblading and skiing stimulates the otolith, a piece of calcium carbonate that sits on a person’s inner ear and triggers feelings of flow and euphoria.
—Sheelah Kolhatkar, The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2024
An otolith is an inner ear bone found in salmon and other fish that develops a new layer each year.
—Ned Rozell, Anchorage Daily News, 30 July 2022
For years, scientists have used an inner ear bone called an otolith to estimate the lifespan of fish.
—Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, 6 Apr. 2020
Scientists use the growth structure of otoliths to estimate a fish's age.
—Alaa Elassar, CNN, 12 Jan. 2020
The researchers then used a microscope to count the growth rings on each slice of otolith.
—Sean Landsman, National Geographic, 2 Aug. 2019
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Amber X. Chen, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 July 2025
Kitchin believes that lateral movement of the sort involved in rollerblading and skiing stimulates the otolith, a piece of calcium carbonate that sits on a person’s inner ear and triggers feelings of flow and euphoria.
—Sheelah Kolhatkar, The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2024
An otolith is an inner ear bone found in salmon and other fish that develops a new layer each year.
—Ned Rozell, Anchorage Daily News, 30 July 2022
For years, scientists have used an inner ear bone called an otolith to estimate the lifespan of fish.
—Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, 6 Apr. 2020
Scientists use the growth structure of otoliths to estimate a fish's age.
—Alaa Elassar, CNN, 12 Jan. 2020
The researchers then used a microscope to count the growth rings on each slice of otolith.
—Sean Landsman, National Geographic, 2 Aug. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Otolith.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/otolith. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
otolith
noun
oto·lith
ˈōt-ᵊl-ˌith 
: a calcareous concretion in the inner ear of a vertebrate or in the otocyst of an invertebrate that is especially conspicuous in many bony fishes where it forms a hard body and in most of the higher vertebrates where it is represented by a mass of small calcareous otoconia
called also statolith
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