auricle
/ˈɔːrɪk(ə)l
/noun Anatomy & Biology
1A structure resembling an ear or ear lobe: grass leaves often have two auricles at the junction between the leaf sheath and the blade...
- The auricles are small, clearly separated from the anterior and posterior margins of the shell and are found in the plane of the closing of the valves.
- The new species differs from it in being narrower and higher at a comparable growth stage and in having less oblique auricles.
1.1The external part or pinna of the ear.Within head injuries auricles were mainly bruised....
- Inflammation or infection of external auditory canal and auricle.
- Radiographic examination revealed opacities consistent with bony structure in the auricles of the ears, with the right more prominent than the left.
2 another term for atrium (of the heart). blood passes downward from the auricle to the ventricle...
- This involves inserting a device within a catheter into the interior of the heart and which spreads out like an umbrella inside the right and left auricle.
- The heart appears to be the most primitive of all adult vertebrates, with the auricle, ventricle and conus arteriosus arranged in straight line, rather than being doubled over one another.
2.1A small muscular flap on the surface of each atrium of the heart.It has a real beating heart with all its auricles, ventricles and valves in their anatomically correct positions.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin auricula 'external part of the ear', diminutive of auris 'ear'.