lungs

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noun

either of the two saclike respiratory organs in the thorax of humans and the higher vertebrates.

an analogous organ in certain invertebrates, as arachnids or terrestrial gastropods.

Idioms

at the top of one's lungs, as loudly as possible; with full voice: The baby cried at the top of his lungs.

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English lungen, Old English; cognate with German Lunge; akin to light², lights

Related forms

lunged

[luhngd] , adjective

half-lunged, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins

World English Dictionary

lung (lʌŋ)

—n
1.	either one of a pair of spongy saclike respiratory organs within the thorax of higher vertebrates, which oxygenate the blood and remove its carbon dioxide
2.	any similar or analogous organ in other vertebrates or in invertebrates
3.	at the top of one's lungs in one's loudest voice; yelling

Related: pneumonic, pulmonary, pulmonic

[Old English lungen; related to Old High German lungun lung. Compare lights²]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

lung

O.E. lungen (pl.), from P.Gmc. *lungw- (cf. O.N. lunge, O.Fris. lungen, M.Du. longhe, Ger. lunge "lung"), lit. "the light organ," from PIE *lengwh- "not heavy, light, easy, agile, nimble" (cf. Rus. lëgkij, Pol. lekki "light;" Rus. lëgkoje, Pol. lekkie "lung," Gk. elaphros "light" in weight;

see also lever). Cf. Port. leve "lung," from L. levis "light;" Ir. scaman "lungs," from scaman "light;" Welsh ysgyfaint "lungs," from ysgafn "light." See also lights. Lung cancer attested from 1926.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

lung (lŭng)
n.
Either of the two saclike organs of respiration that occupy the pulmonary cavity of the thorax and in which aeration of the blood takes place. It is common for the right lung, which is divided into three lobes, to be slightly larger than the left, which has two lobes.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage

Science Dictionary

lung

(lŭng) Pronunciation Key

Either of two spongy organs in the chest of air-breathing vertebrate animals that serve as the organs of gas exchange. Blood flowing through the lungs picks up oxygen from inhaled air and releases carbon dioxide, which is exhaled. Air enters and leaves the lungs through the bronchial tubes.
A similar organ found in some invertebrates.

American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

lungs definition

A pair of organs, the principal parts of the respiratory system, at the front of the cavity of the chest, or thorax. In the lungs, oxygen from the air that is inhaled is transferred into the blood, while carbon dioxide is removed from the blood and exhaled.

Example sentences

Lungs grown in the lab have been experimentally transplanted into live animals.

He had been in perfect health until three months earlier, when he suddenly

developed pneumonia in both lungs.

The clot can quickly move to the lungs in a potentially fatal condition known

as pulmonary embolism.

But among some babies, particularly the premature, the lungs fail to expand

properly.

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pneumonia aerobics aeroembolism air sac airway alveolus

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Matching Quote

"What one really wants is youth, and what one really loses is years. Life becomes at last a mere piece of acting. One goes on by habit, playing more or less clumsily that one is still alive. It is ludicrous and at times humiliating, but there is a certain style in it which youth has not. We become all, more or less, gentlemen; we are ancien régime; we learn to smile while gout racks us.... We get out of bed in the morning all broken up, without nerves, color or temper, and by noon we are joking with young women about the play. One lives in constant company with diseased hearts, livers, kidneys and lungs; one shakes hands with certain death at closer embrace every day; one sees paralysis in every feature and feels it in every muscle; all one's functions relax their action day by day; and, what is worse, one's grasp on the interests of life relaxes with the physical relaxation; and, through it all, we improve; our manners acquire refinement; our sympathies grow wider; our youthful self-consciousness disappears; very ordinary men and women are found to have charm; our appreciations have weight; we should almost get to respect ourselves if we knew of anything human to respect."

-Henry Brooks Adams