larynx

larynx (lâr`ĭngks), organ of voice in mammals. Commonly known as the voice box, the larynx is a tubular chamber about 2 in. (5 cm) high, consisting of walls of cartilage bound by ligaments and membranes, and moved by muscles. The human larynx extends from the trachea, or windpipe. In humans, part of the structure may protrude noticeably at the front of the neck, forming the so-called Adam's apple. Within the larynx lie the vocal cords, or vocal folds, a pair of elastic folds in the lining of mucous membrane. During silent breathing, the vocal cords rest along the larynx walls, leaving the air passage fully open. During speech, the cords are stretched across the larynx; air released from the lungs is forced between the cords, causing them to vibrate and so produce voice. Various muscles adjust the tension of the cords as well as the space between them, thus varying the pitch of the sounds produced. The more taut the cords, the higher the pitch. Since men's larynges are usually larger than women's, male vocal cords tend to be longer and the male voice is thus deeper. Growth may double the length of the vocal cords in the male adolescent; hence his dramatic "change of voice." Over the vocal cords extend parallel bands of protective tissue, the false vocal cords. The larynx controls pitch and volume of vocal utterances—it produces initial sounds, while the articulation of these sounds results from the manipulation of teeth, tongue, palate, and lips. Above them, at the opening of the larynx into the throat, hangs the epiglottis, a flap of cartilage that helps to seal off the lower respiratory tract during swallowing so that food and other foreign elements do not enter it.

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larynx

 or voice box

(A) Frontal view and (B) cutaway side view of the human larynx. The larynx is composed of cartilage …

(credit: © Merriam-Webster Inc.)

Hollow, tubular structure connecting the pharynx with the trachea, through which air passes on the way to the lungs. The larynx consists of a framework of cartilage plates, with a ridge in front (Adam's apple); the epiglottis, a flaplike projection up into the throat that covers the airway during swallowing to keep food and liquid from entering; and the vocal cords, whose vibration produces the sound of the voice (see speech).

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larynx

a cartilaginous and muscular hollow organ forming part of the air passage to the lungs: in higher vertebrates it contains the vocal cords

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larynx [′lar‚iŋks]

(anatomy)

The complex of cartilages and related structures at the opening of the trachea into the pharynx in vertebrates; functions in protecting the entrance of the trachea, and in phonation in higher forms.

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Larynx

The complex of cartilages and related structures at the opening of the trachea, or windpipe, into the pharynx, or throat. In humans and most other mammals, the signet-shaped cricoid cartilage forms the base of the larynx and rests upon the trachea. The thyroid cartilage, which forms the prominent Adam's apple ventrally, lies anterior to the cricoid. Dorsally there are paired pivoting cartilages, the arytenoids. Each is pyramid-shaped and acts as the movable posterior attachment for the vocal cords and the laryngeal muscles that regulate the cords. Two other small paired cartilages, the cuneiform and the corniculate, also lie dorsal to the thyroid cartilage. The epiglottis, a leaf-shaped elastic cartilage with its stem inserted into the thyroid notch, forms a lid to the larynx.