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A partition in any compartment, for various purposes. Diaphragm pump, one in which a flexible diaphragm takes the place of a piston.

Pertaining to a diaphragm; as, diaphragmatic respiration; the diaphragmatic arteries and nerves.

An adjustable diaphragm, suggesting the iris of the eye in its action, for regulating the aperture of a lens, consisting of a number of thin pieces fastened to a ring. It is used in cameras and microscopes.

the stomach, bowels, and other viscera. In man, often restricted to the part between the diaphragm and the commencement of the pelvis, the remainder being called the pelvic cavity.

trument, proposed by Edison, for greatly intensifying speech. It consists of a phonograph diaphragm so arranged that its action opens and closes valves, producing synchronous air blasts sufficient to operate a larger diaphragm with greater amplitude of vibration.

he abdomen. Coeliac artery (Anat.), the artery which issues from the aorta just below the diaphragm; -- called also coeliac axis. -- Coeliac flux, Coeliac passion (Med.), a chronic flux or diarrhea of undigested food.

the plural, to parts which are supposed to resemble a pair of legs; as, the crura of the diaphragm, a pair of muscles attached to it; crura cerebri, two bundles of nerve fibers in the base of the brain, connecting the medulla and the forebrain.

That which deflects, as a diaphragm in a furnace, or a come in a lamp (to deflect and mingle air and gases and help combustion).

Pertaining to the stomach and diaphragm; as, the gastrophrenic ligament.

solid material. Reproduction is accomplished by means of a system attached to an elastic diaphragm.

respiratory movement; a spasmodic inspiration, consisting of a sudden contraction of the diaphragm, accompanied with closure of the glottis, so that further entrance of air is prevented, while the impulse of the column of air entering and striking upon the closed glottis produces a sound, or hiccough. [Written also hi…

the lungs, accomplished in mammals by elevation of the chest walls and flattening of the diaphragm; -- the opposite of expiration.

ich supports or retains an organ in place; as, the gastrophrenic ligament, connecting the diaphragm and stomach.

so that it can be moved in one direction by a small plunger operated by an elastic metal diaphragm which closes a tube connected with the engine cylinder. It is also moved at right angles to this direction by a reducing motion, called a reproducer, so as to copy accurately on a smaller scale the motion of the engine p…

See Diaphragm, n., 2. Smote him into the midriff with a stone. Milton.

Pertaining to the muscles and the diaphragm; as, the musculophrenic artery.

membrane which lines the cavity of the abdomen, or the whole body cavity when there is no diaphragm, and, turning back, surrounds the viscera, forming a closed, or nearly closed, sac. [Written also peritonæum.]

Of or pertaining to the diaphragm; diaphragmatic; as, the phrenic nerve.

An instrument for registering the movements of the diaphragm, or midriff, in respiration.

The diaphragm, or midriff, in animals. Dunglison.