ENGLISH
REFERENCE

throat

n. countable
B1 Intermediate Oxford US //ˈθɹoʊt// UK //θɹˈəʊt// throat Archaic Dialect General-service Informal

n. the passage in your neck that carries food to your stomach and air to your lungs. It is also the part of your body that produces your voice.

n. the anterior portion of the neck, containing the pharynx and upper larynx. It serves as the primary conduit for the respiratory and digestive tracts.


SIMPLE

She has a sore throat and cannot speak clearly.

CONTEXTUAL

The singer drank warm water with honey to soothe her throat before the performance.

COMPLEX

A blockage in the throat can be life-threatening as it obstructs the airway, requiring immediate medical intervention to restore normal breathing.

Synonyms
Origin

From Middle English throte, from Old English þrote, þrota, þrotu (“throat”), from Proto-West Germanic þrotu, from Proto-Germanic þrutō (“throat”), from Proto-Indo-European *trud- (“to swell, become stiff”). Cognate with Dutch strot (“throat”), German Drossel (“throttle, gorge of game (wild animals)”), Faroese troti (“swelling”), Icelandic þroti (“swelling”), Norwegian trut (“mouth”), Swedish trut.

Usage

Commonly used in the idiom 'clear one's throat' to describe the act of coughing slightly to get attention or prepare to speak.

Idioms11 entries

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