larynx
Meaning of larynx: Known as the voice box, though its first duty is closing the airway, and speech is the ability that was added later.
Definition of larynx
The larynx is the short section of airway between the throat and the windpipe, built from cartilage and holding the vocal cords. Air passing between the cords sets them vibrating, which produces the sound of the voice. Its older and more urgent job is guarding the airway: it shuts during swallowing so that food and drink pass behind it into the esophagus.
What is it made of?
Nine cartilages, joined by muscles and ligaments. The largest forms the shield at the front of the neck, more prominent in men, and is the structure people call the Adam's apple. Below it a complete ring of cartilage is the only place in the airway where the wall goes all the way round. A leaf-shaped flap at the top, the epiglottis, folds back over the opening during swallowing. Inside, two folds of tissue stretch across the passage, and small muscles swing them together or apart and tighten them to change pitch.
How does it protect the airway?
Swallowing is a rapid sequence. The whole structure lifts, the epiglottis tips back across the opening, the cords clamp shut and breathing pauses briefly while food passes behind into the esophagus. If anything slips past, a cough follows, and the cough itself depends on the cords: they close, pressure builds beneath them, and the sudden release blasts the material back out. A person whose cords do not close properly cannot build that pressure, which is why a weak cough and material entering the lungs tend to appear together, and why the whole sequence needs a working throat as well.
What goes wrong with it?
| Problem | What is noticed |
|---|---|
| Laryngitis | Hoarse or absent voice, usually after a viral illness |
| Vocal cord nodules | Persistent hoarseness, linked to heavy voice use |
| Nerve injury | One cord stops moving, often after neck or chest surgery |
| Cancer | Hoarseness lasting weeks, sometimes with difficulty swallowing |
Persistent hoarseness is the symptom behind most diagnoses of throat cancer involving this region, because a small growth on a vocal cord alters the voice long before it does anything else. Where the larynx has been removed, speech is produced another way, either with a device such as a pneumatic larynx held against the neck or by redirecting air through a surgically created channel.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The tumor was confined to the larynx with normal cord movement.
Good to know
The larynx does not carry out swallowing; it closes to keep food out of the airway while the throat muscles move it into the esophagus, and hoarseness persisting for weeks is the sign most associated with a growth on a vocal cord.
Word origin
Where “larynx” comes from
Larynx comes directly from the Greek larunx, the name used for the upper part of the windpipe.