esophagus

IPA/iˈsɒfəɡəs/
KK[ɪsˈɑfəɡəs]IPA/iˈsɑːfəɡəs/

esophagus — noun

  • esophagussingular
  • esophagiplural

1. the long, narrow tube inside the body that carries food and drink from the throa

1.nounB2
Definition

the long, narrow tube inside the body that carries food and drink from the throat down into the stomach

Example

Stomach acid entered Tomás's esophagus and caused a burning feeling in his chest.

stomach acid + esophagus (common medical phrase)

Zola felt a sharp pain in her esophagus after swallowing a piece of dry bread.

collocation: pain in the esophagus

Common collocations
  • lining of the esophagus
  • cancer of the esophagus
  • entire esophagus
  • lower esophagus
Synonyms
  • food pipe

    informal everyday term used in casual conversation instead of the medical name

  • gullet

    older, less common term that may refer to the throat area broadly

Usage Note

This is the American English spelling. In British English, the same body part is spelled oesophagus. Informally, it may be called the food pipe.

Common Mistakes

I swallowed water and it went down my windpipe.
I swallowed water and it went down my esophagus.
The windpipe (trachea) carries air to the lungs; the esophagus carries food and drink to the stomach.

Word family

  • esophageal
    adjectiveC1
  • oesophagus
    nounB2
  • oesophageal
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Esophagus is the formal medical term for the tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach. Food pipe is the informal everyday expression — you might say 'the food went down the wrong pipe,' but a doctor would use esophagus. Gullet is an older, less common word that roughly refers to the same area but is vague and often includes the throat. Trachea is a different tube entirely: it carries air, not food, to the lungs. Confusing the two is a frequent learner error: saying 'it went into my windpipe' describes a choking hazard, whereas the esophagus is the correct path for swallowing.

esophagus ↗food pipegullet ↗trachea

Common collocations

Nouns

  • esophagus lining
  • esophagus wall

Prepositions

  • in the esophagus
  • through the esophagus
  • down the esophagus
  • into the esophagus

Etymology

GreekLatinEnglish

From Greek oisophagos (οἰσοφάγος), meaning 'gullet' — literally 'what carries food,' from oiso- ('to carry, convey') and -phagos ('eating, consuming'). The word entered Latin and then English. The modern American spelling esophagus drops the initial 'o' that remains in the British variant oesophagus.

First known use

14th century

14th century, in the meaning defined above