alveolus

IPA/ælˈviːələs/
IPA/ælˈviːələs/

alveolus — noun

  • alveolussingular
  • alveolusesplural

1. a very small hollow or pit inside a surface, shell, bone, or similar structure.

1.名詞C2
釋義

a very small hollow or pit inside a surface, shell, bone, or similar structure.

例句

Kenji pointed to a tiny alveolus in the weathered rock sample.

technical use for a tiny hollow

Ritu filled each alveolus in the clay mold with blue dye.

同義詞
  • cavity

    broader and more common; alveolus suggests a very small hollow in a structure.

  • pit

    often suggests a deeper or more visible hole on a surface.

  • hollow

    less technical and less precise about size or shape.

用法筆記

This broad sense appears mainly in technical writing. In ordinary English, speakers usually choose hole, pit, or cavity instead.

2. one of the tiny sacs at the ends of the lung's air tubes where oxygen moves into

2.名詞C2
釋義

one of the tiny sacs at the ends of the lung's air tubes where oxygen moves into the blood and carbon dioxide moves out.

例句

The nurse explained that each alveolus passes oxygen into the blood.

function: oxygen moves into the blood

Doctors found fluid in the alveoli after Linh's severe chest infection.

同義詞
  • air sac

    a clearer everyday paraphrase; alveolus is the formal anatomical term.

  • air cell

    can describe other small air spaces too, so it is less exact than alveolus.

用法筆記

This is the main medical meaning of alveolus. The plural is usually alveoli when doctors describe many air sacs together.

常見錯誤

❌The smoker's alveolus were badly damaged.
✅The smoker's alveoli were badly damaged.
💡Use alveoli as the usual plural form in medical English.

3. the small bony space in the jaw where the root of a tooth sits.

3.名詞C2
釋義

the small bony space in the jaw where the root of a tooth sits.

例句

The dentist cleaned the alveolus after Heloisa's tooth was removed.

dental use after a tooth is removed

Pain spread through the alveolus when the cracked tooth loosened.

同義詞
  • tooth socket

    the everyday term used outside technical dental writing.

  • dental socket

    technical but less specific to the Latin anatomical term.

用法筆記

This term is common in dental or anatomical writing. For general patients, tooth socket is usually the clearer everyday phrase.

常見錯誤

❌The dentist checked the gum after the tooth came out.
✅The dentist checked the alveolus after the tooth came out.
💡The alveolus is the bony socket, not the whole gum area.