VocabauraVOCABAURA

lung

noun

Simple meaning

A biological organ of vertebrates that controls breathing and oxygenates the blood.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

luhng
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈlʌŋ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. anatomy

    A biological organ of vertebrates that controls breathing and oxygenates the blood.

  2. Either of two saclike respiratory organs in the chest of vertebrates; serves to remove carbon dioxide and provide oxygen to the blood

  3. in the plural

    Capacity for exercise or exertion; breath.

  4. That which supplies oxygen or fresh air, such as trees, parklands, forest, etc., to a place.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A biological organ of vertebrates that controls breathing and oxygenates the blood.

Used this way, lung is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Clinical and technical
Usage feel
Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

  • Medicine/healthcare
  • Science
  • Technical/specialist writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use lung

  • “Smoking can cause serious damage to your lung tissue.”

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “lung”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Biological / either

lung cancerlung transplantation

Exercise

lung capacity

Other combinations

lung volumelung biopsylung abscesslung diseaseright lung

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • lung cancernounCompound term

    Carcinoma of the lungs.

  • lung-powernounCompound term

    The ability to speak loudly.

  • lung-likeadjectiveCompound term

    Performing functions similar to those performed by lungs.

  • thresher's lungnounCompound term

    Alveolitis caused by an allergic reaction to fungal spores in the dust that is inhaled from moldy hay.

  • wet lungnounCompound term

    Acute lung injury characterized by coughing and rales.

  • aqua-lungnounCompound term

    A device (trade name Aqua-Lung) that lets divers breathe under water.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “lung” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.