cochlea Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the snail-shaped tube (in the inner ear coiled around the modiolus) where sound vibrations are converted into nerve impulses by the organ of Corti

WordNet


Coch"le*a noun
Etymology
L., a snail, or snail shell, Gr. a snail, fr. a shellfish with a spiral shell.
Definitions
  1. (Anat.) An appendage of the labyrinth of the internal ear, which is elongated and coiled into a spiral in mammals. See Ear.

Webster 1913