Diaphragm

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Diaphragm \Di"a*phragm\, n. [L. diaphragma, Gr. ?, fr. ? to
     fence by a partition wall; dia` through + ?, ?, to fence,
     inclose; prob. akin to L. fareire to stuff: cf. F.
     diaphragme. See {Farce}.]
     1. A dividing membrane or thin partition, commonly with an
        opening through it.


        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Anat.) The muscular and tendinous partition separating
        the cavity of the chest from that of the abdomen; the
        midriff.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Zool.) A calcareous plate which divides the cavity of
        certain shells into two parts.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Opt.) A plate with an opening, which is generally
        circular, used in instruments to cut off marginal portions
        of a beam of light, as at the focus of a telescope.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. (Mach.) A partition in any compartment, for various
        purposes.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Diaphragm pump}, one in which a flexible diaphragm takes the
        place of a piston.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  diaphragm
       n 1: a mechanical device in a camera that controls size of
            aperture of the lens; "the new cameras adjust the
            diaphragm automatically" [syn: {stop}]
       2: (anatomy) a muscular partition separating the abdominal and
          thoracic cavities; functions in respiration [syn: {midriff}]
       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 [syn: {pessary},
           {contraceptive diaphragm}]
       4: electro-acoustic transducer that vibrates to receive or
          produce sound waves

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  128 Moby Thesaurus words for "diaphragm":
     IUD, abdomen, abomasum, acoustical network, bag, barrier,
     bay window, beerbelly, belly, birth control device, brattice,
     breadbasket, buffer, buffer state, bulkhead, bumper,
     capacitor speaker, center, cloison, coaxial speaker, collision mat,
     condom, cone, contraceptive, contraceptive foam, core, craw, crop,
     crossover network, cushion, diameter, dissepiment, dividing line,
     dividing wall, division, dynamic speaker, earphone,
     electrodynamic speaker, electromagnetic speaker,
     electrostatic speaker, embonpoint, equator, excited-field speaker,
     fender, first stomach, full-fidelity speaker, gizzard, gullet, gut,
     headphone, headset, heart, high-fidelity speaker,
     high-frequency speaker, honeycomb stomach, horn, interior,
     interseptum, intrauterine device, kernel, kishkes, loudspeaker,
     low-frequency speaker, manyplies, mat, maw, mean, median, middle,
     midmost, midrange speaker, midriff, midsection, midst,
     monorange speaker, moving-coil speaker, nucleus, omasum,
     oral contraceptive, pad, panel, paries, partition, party wall,
     paunch, permanent magnet speaker, pessary, pot, potbelly, potgut,
     property line, prophylactic, psalterium, pusgut, rennet bag,
     reticulum, rubber, rumen, second stomach, separation, septulum,
     septum, shock pad, skin, spare tire, speaker, speaker system,
     speaker unit, spermicidal jelly, spermicide, stomach, swagbelly,
     the pill, thick, thick of things, third stomach, triaxial speaker,
     tum-tum, tummy, tweeter, underbelly, ventripotence, voice coil,
     waist, waistline, wall, woofer, zone
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  DIAPHRAGM, n.  A muscular partition separating disorders of the chest
  from disorders of the bowels.