oval window
- noun
- /ˈoʊvəl ˈwɪndoʊ/
- Specialized
:
ventana oval
- The eustachian tube orifice, the oval window, and the round window were also filled with granulation tissue.
- round or oval window
- oval window niche
Examples
-
In most cases, the increased pressure below the oval window caused by the movement of the stapes resulted in a bulging of the RWM.
Academic text (2008) -
Soft tissue extended into the area of the oval window, but the ossicles were intact.
Academic text (2009) -
The probe was inserted through the oval window.
Academic text (1998) -
"His head lolled toward the oval window."
Fiction book (1999) -
At the level of the oval window, fibrosis is often extensive.
Academic text (1996) -
The facial nerve may be displaced over the oval window to varying degrees.
Academic text (1996) -
The round window and the oval window were covered with temporalis fascia.
Academic text (2007) -
The stapes was also involved, and a perilymph leakage from the oval window was observed.
Academic text (2002) -
In the inner ear, the potential sites of CSF leak include the oval window, stapes footplate, eustachian tube, and promontory fistula.
Academic text (2007) -
The oval window is critical for transmitting sound vibrations to the inner ear.
Synonyms
A small oval opening in the middle ear that lets sound pass into the inner ear
An oval opening in the middle ear where a small bone sends sound to the inner ear
A small opening in the inner ear wall connected to a tiny middle ear bone that lets sound waves enter
Surface Forms
Morphology
oval + window
The constituents 'oval' (egg-shaped) and 'window' (an opening) transparently yield the general idea of an 'oval-shaped opening', so a learner would infer shape and that it is an opening. However, the precise technical meaning — a specific membrane-covered opening in the middle ear that transmits sound — is specialized anatomical knowledge and not fully predictable from the parts alone, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The noun oval window comes from a small oval, egg-shaped window in the middle ear that is covered by a thin skin and lets sound pass into the inner ear. So, oval window means 'an opening in the middle ear that sends sound vibrations to the inner ear'.
