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cochlea
(kok´le-ә)
anything of a spiral shape.
a spiral tube shaped like a snail shell, which forms part of the inner ear and is the essential organ of hearing. It is filled with fluid and is connected with the middle ear by two membrane-covered openings, the oval window and the round window. Inside it is the organ of corti, a structure of highly specialized cells that translate sound vibrations into nerve impulses. adj., coch´lear., adj.

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