OTIC (OH-tik)
Of,
pertaining to, or near the ear Common clues: Of the ear;
Ear-related; Auricular; Auditory; Pertaining to the ear; Hearing
related; Aural; Eary?; Of hearing; Involving the ear;
Ear-relevant Crossword
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Hearing Ear
Happy
is the hearing man; unhappy the speaking man.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
An
ear is an organ used by an animal to detect sound.
The term may refer to
the entire system responsible for collection and early processing
of sound (the beginning of the auditory system), or merely the
externally-visible part. Not all animals have ears in the same
part of the body.
Mammals, including humans, have two
ears, one on each side of the head.
The
outer ear is the external portion of the ear.
The visible part is
called the pinna, or auricle, and functions to collect and focus
sound waves. Many mammals can move the pinna in order to focus
their hearing in a certain direction, in much the same way that
they can turn their eyes. Humans have generally lost this
ability. From the pinna, the sound pressure waves move into the
ear canal, a simple tube running to the middle ear. This tube
amplifies frequencies in the range 3 kHz to 12 kHz.
The
middle ear includes the eardrum (tympanum or tympanic membrane)
and the ossicles, three tiny bones of the middle ear.
Their Latin names are
the malleus, incus, and stapes, but they are also referred to by
their English translations: the hammer,
anvil,
and stirrup
respectively.
The
middle ear is hollow. If the animal moves to a high-altitude
environment, or dives into the water, there will be a pressure
difference between the middle ear and the outside environment.
This pressure will pose a risk of bursting or otherwise damaging
the tympanum if it is not relieved. This is one of the functions
of the Eustachian tubes - evolutionary descendants of the gills -
which connect the middle ear to the nasopharynx. The Eustachian
tubes are normally pinched off at the nose end, to prevent being
clogged with phlegm, but they may be opened by lowering and
protruding the jaw; this is why yawning helps relieve the
pressure felt in the ears when on board an aircraft.
The inner ear
comprises both the organ of hearing (the cochlea) and the
labyrinth or vestibular apparatus, the organ of balance located
in the inner ear that consists of three semicircular canals and
the vestibule.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Ear".
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