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

Examples of trachea in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

An adult human trachea or windpipe is approximately 1 inch wide. —Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Feb. 2024

The larynx functions like an antechamber to the windpipe, or trachea, with a flap of tissue called the epiglottis keeping food and drink from falling down the windpipe. —Kate Golembiewski, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2024

Ana returns to Karolinska and teams up with Nate and Anders to get to the bottom of the science behind the artificial tracheas. —Vulture, 21 Dec. 2023

In one memorable scene, Andy Garcia, playing an ailing chain-smoker who has had a cancer operation, inserts a cigarette directly into the breathing tube in his trachea. —Patrick Radden Keefe, The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2023

Following an X-ray and CT, scans showed the man suffered a tear in the trachea, also known as the windpipe. —Vanessa Etienne, Peoplemag, 14 Dec. 2023

Now, this is all starting to smell like a dead rat implanted with an artificial trachea. —Vulture, 21 Dec. 2023

Macchiarini developed the world's first artificial windpipe in 2011 using a plastic replica of a trachea that was soaked in a patient's stem cells to prevent the body from rejecting the transplanted replacement organ, per The New York Times. —Jessica Sager, Peoplemag, 5 Dec. 2023

Ramírez’s character is based on the real-life Macchiarini, whose fraudulent research led to a 2022 conviction for causing bodily harm to a patient through a trachea transplant. —Kyle Denis, Billboard, 28 Nov. 2023

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