alveolar

alveolar
    adj 1: pertaining to the tiny air sacs of the lungs
    2: pertaining to the sockets of the teeth or that part of the
       upper jaw; "alveolar processes"
    n 1: a consonant articulated with the tip of the tongue near the
         gum ridge [syn: {alveolar consonant}, {dental consonant},
         {alveolar}, {dental}]
    

Alveolar \Al"ve*o*lar\ (?; 277), a. [L. alveolus a small hollow
   or cavity: cf. F. alv['e]olaire.] (Anat.)
   1. Of, pertaining to, or resembling, alveoli or little cells,
      sacs, or sockets.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Phon.) Articulated with the tip of the tongue pressing
      against the alveolar processes of the upper front teeth.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   {Alveolar processes}, the processes of the maxillary bones,
      containing the sockets of the teeth.
      [1913 Webster]
    

99 Moby Thesaurus words for "alveolar":
      accented, alveolate, apical, apico-alveolar, apico-dental,
      articulated, assimilated, back, barytone, bilabial, broad,
      cacuminal, central, cerebral, checked, close, consonant,
      consonantal, continuant, dental, dented, depressed, dimpled,
      dissimilated, dorsal, engraved, faveolate, flat, front, glide,
      glossal, glottal, guttural, hard, heavy, high, honeycombed,
      indented, intonated, labial, labiodental, labiovelar, lateral, lax,
      light, lingual, liquid, low, mid, monophthongal, muted, narrow,
      nasal, nasalized, notched, occlusive, open, oxytone, palatal,
      palatalized, pharyngeal, pharyngealized, phonemic, phonetic,
      phonic, pitch, pitched, pitted, pocked, pockmarked, posttonic,
      retroflex, rounded, semivowel, soft, sonant, stopped, stressed,
      strong, surd, syllabic, tense, thick, throaty, tonal, tonic,
      twangy, unaccented, unrounded, unstressed, velar, vocalic, vocoid,
      voiced, voiceless, vowel, vowellike, weak, wide