Home / Dictionary / Diaphragm

Diaphragm Very Common

Diaphragm has 6 different meanings across 1 category:

Noun

Definitions
Noun
1

a mechanical device in a camera that controls size of aperture of the lens

"the new cameras adjust the diaphragm automatically"

2

(anatomy) a muscular partition separating the abdominal and thoracic cavities; functions in respiration

"After holding my breath for too long, I felt strange spasms deep within my diaphragm that made it hard to take another full breath."

3

a contraceptive device consisting of a flexible dome-shaped cup made of rubber or plastic; it is filled with spermicide and fitted over the uterine cervix

"She carefully inserted her diaphragm before intimacy to ensure effective contraception."

4

electro-acoustic transducer that vibrates to receive or produce sound waves

"The audio engineer adjusted the diaphragm on the vintage microphone to ensure it captured every nuance of the singer's voice."

5

In mammals, a sheet of muscle separating the thorax from the abdomen, contracted and relaxed in respiration to draw air into and expel air from the lungs; also called thoracic diaphragm.

"The doctor explained that her surgery involved repairing a tear in the diaphragm, which caused her painful hiccups because the muscle couldn't relax properly between breaths."

Verb
1

To reduce lens aperture using an optical diaphragm.

"The photographer adjusted the camera settings to diaphragm the light, creating a deeper depth of field for the portrait."

Related Terms
Broader Terms (hypernyms)
mechanical device muscular structure membrane contraceptive disk
Narrower Terms (hyponyms)
iris
Rhyming Words
agm syntagm epiphragm paraphragm autophragm hemidiaphragm iris diaphragm pelvic diaphragm
Compare
Diaphragm vs