HOW TO PRONOUNCE
diaphragm
/ˈdaɪəˌfɹæm/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:05
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The final g is silent.
Start with the eye vowel and keep the first syllable strongest. The ending has f, r, a vowel, and m; the written g adds no separate sound.
3 syllables · Stress on syllable 1
TRY SAYING
“The illustration shows the diaphragm below the lungs.”
APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗What does diaphragm mean?
noun
- In mammals, a sheet of muscle separating the thorax from the abdomen, contracted and relaxed in respiration to draw air into and expel air from the lungs.
- Any of various membranes or sheets of muscle or ligament which separate one cavity from another.
- A contraceptive device consisting of a flexible cup, used to cover the cervix during intercourse.
More meanings (7)
noun
- A flexible membrane separating two chambers and fixed around its periphery that distends into one or other chamber as the difference in the pressure in the chambers varies.
- In a speaker, the thin, semi-rigid membrane which vibrates to produce sound.
- A thin opaque structure with a central aperture, used to limit the passage of light into a camera or similar device.
- A permeable or semipermeable membrane.
- A floor slab, metal wall panel, roof panel or the like, having a sufficiently large in-plane shear stiffness and sufficient strength to transmit horizontal forces to resisting systems.
verb
- To reduce lens aperture using an optical diaphragm.
- To act as a diaphragm, for example by vibrating.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈdaɪəˌfɹæm/
Pronunciation used in the listening tip.
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
It is well known that the diaphragm of a telephone vibrates with the fluctuations of the current energizing the magnet beneath it.
The cup or mouth-piece thus formed was closed by the skin of a German sausage to serve as a drum or diaphragm.
More book examples (3)
The muscular part of the diaphragm is thick and strong in every species of dog, while the aponeurotic expansion is comparatively smaller.
It emerged from the lower part, passed through the diaphragm, the cardiac end of the stomach, and lodged in the left kidney.
The diaphragm is a large, flat muscle, resembling a saucer, which forms the division between the chest cavity and the abdominal cavity.