trachea

noun

tra·​chea ˈtrā-kē-ə 

plural tracheae ˈtrā-kē-ˌē 

-kē-ˌī

also tracheas or trachea

1

: the main trunk of the system of tubes by which air passes to and from the lungs in vertebrates

2

[New Latin, from Medieval Latin] : vessel sense 3b

also : one of its constituent cellular elements

3

[New Latin] : one of the air-conveying tubules forming the respiratory system of most insects and many other arthropods

tracheal

ˈtrā-kē-əl 

adjective

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Previous trachea transplants had relied on a donor organ. —Adam Piore, Discover Magazine, 10 Apr. 2012

Until now, doctors have had few good options to treat serious trachea damage. —Star Tribune, 6 Apr. 2021

In 2018, Regev and researchers from the Broad Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital discovered that the lining of the trachea has seven cell types — one more than expected. —Linda Marsa, Discover Magazine, 11 Feb. 2019

Cuahquentzi cared for Gomez, handling everything from clearing his trachea tube and managing his bowel care to dressing and bathing him each day. —Stacy St. Clair, Chicago Tribune, 22 Nov. 2022

The blog features a photo of Alex Roberts posing with one of Macchiarini's trachea replacement patients, a young man called Chris Lyles. —Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 15 Feb. 2016

The goal: get a tube in the trachea to breathe for a patient who can’t get oxygen in or carbon dioxide out, or both. —Tony Dajer, Discover Magazine, 22 July 2015

When a person experiences an Ascaris infection, eggs travel from the intestine and into the blood, the liver, the heart, and the lungs, penetrating the trachea, through which they are swallowed, ending up back in the gut. —Jerome Groopman, The New Yorker, 5 Dec. 2022

While choking is an awful sensation, most of the time the food is impacted in the esophagus and not in your breathing tube, the trachea. —Dr. Michael Daignault, USA TODAY, 22 Nov. 2022

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Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Medieval Latin, from Late Latin trachia, from Greek tracheia (artēria) rough (artery), from feminine of trachys rough

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

trachea

noun

tra·​chea ˈtrā-kē-ə 

plural tracheae -kē-ˌē 

-kē-ˌī

also tracheas or trachea

1

: the main part of the system of tubes by which air passes to and from the lungs in vertebrates

called also windpipe

2

: one of the tiny air-carrying tubes that form the respiratory system of most insects and many other land-dwelling arthropods (as spiders)

tracheal

-kē-əl 

adjective

Medical Definition

trachea

noun

tra·​chea

ˈtrā-kē-ə, British also trə-ˈkē-ə

plural tracheae -kē-ˌē  also tracheas

: the main trunk of the system of tubes by which air passes to and from the lungs that is about four inches (10 centimeters) long and somewhat less than an inch (2.5 centimeters) in diameter, extends down the front of the neck from the larynx, divides in two to form the bronchi, has walls of fibrous and muscular tissue stiffened by incomplete cartilaginous rings which keep it from collapsing, and is lined with mucous membrane whose epithelium is composed of columnar ciliated mucus-secreting cells

called also windpipe