I. ˈləŋ noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English lunge, from Old English lungen; akin to Old High German lungun lung, Old Norse lungu (plural) lungs, Gothic leihts light — more at light
1.
a. : one of the usually two compound saccular organs that constitute the basic respiratory organ of air-breathing vertebrates, that arise from the ventral wall of the embryonic alimentary canal, each developing into a somewhat conical sac surrounded by a serous membrane continuous with the pleura, depending from the bronchus by which it is continuous with the pharynx and from the pulmonary artery and vein, being suspended in and normally occupying the entire lateral parts of the thorax, and consisting essentially of an inverted tree of intricately branched bronchioles that communicate with thin-walled terminal alveoli swathed in a network of delicate capillaries between which and the air inspired into the alveoli the actual gaseous exchange of respiration takes place, and that in man are somewhat flattened with a broad base resting against the diaphragm that closes the thoracic cavity posteriorly and have the right lung divided into three lobes and the left into two lobes
b. : any of various respiratory organs of invertebrates — compare book lung
2. : something that supplies air for breathing: as
a. Britain : an open space in or near a city
area of hill and moor which serves like a giant lung the great urban populations — Gerald Nethercot
b. : a device for enabling individuals abandoning a submarine to rise to the surface
c. : a mechanical device for regularly introducing fresh air into and withdrawing stale air from the lung : respirator — see iron lung
II. ˈlüŋ noun
( -s )
Etymology: Chinese (Pekingese) lung 2
: dragon 3c