See Also: vestibule(dictionary)
Vestibule(medicine)
vestibule(dictionary)
Vestibule(health)
oral vestibule(medicine)
vestibule of larynx(medicine)
vestibule of mouth(medicine)
vestibule of nose(medicine)
vestibule of vagina(medicine)
oesophagogastric vestibule(medicine)

vestibule (iou)



vestibule noun & verb. E17.
[French (perh. from Italian vestibulo) or Latin vestibulum.]
A. noun.
a. Antiquities. The enclosed or partially enclosed space in front of the main entrance of a Roman or Greek house or building. E17.
b. An antechamber or hall next to the outer door of a building or house; an entrance-hall, a lobby; a porch of a church etc. M18.
c. An enclosed passage communicating between two railway carriages (chiefly US). Also, the area at either end of a railway carriage, usu. separated by a door from the seating. L19.
Anatomy & Zoology. Any of various cavities or hollows forming an approach or entrance to a passage or canal; esp. (a) the bony cavity which forms the central portion of the labyrinth of the ear, between the tympanum and the internal auditory canal; (b) in the female, the space in the vulva into which both the urethra and vagina open; (c) the part of the mouth between the teeth and the lips; (d) a depression in the body wall of a ciliate protozoan, into which food is taken for ingestion. E18.
b. verb trans. Provide (a railway carriage) with vestibules; link by means of vestibules. Freq. as vestibuled ppl adjective. Chiefly US. L19.