Airway Means Your Throat and Also an Airline
An airway is the passage that carries air to the lungs. Aviation borrowed the word for a route and then for the companies flying it.
An airway is the passage through which air reaches the lungs. Aviation borrowed the word for a designated route through the sky, then airlines put it in their names — British Airways, Qantas Airways. Emergency medicine keeps the original sense at the top of its checklist: airway, breathing, circulation, in that order.
- The passage carrying air to the lungs. *A clear airway.*
- A designated flight route. *A busy airway.*
- An airline (usually plural). *British Airways.*
- A ventilation passage in a mine. *The mine airway.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | airway | An obstructed airway. |
| Plural | airways | The upper airways. |
| Related | trachea | The trachea. |
| Related | bronchus | The left bronchus. |
| Related | airspace | Controlled airspace. |
How it is used in a sentence
- First check the airway.Emergency care.
- Asthma narrows the airways.Medicine.
- The aircraft joined the airway.Aviation route.
The ABC of first aid
- A — Airway — is it open and clear?
- B — Breathing — is the person breathing?
- C — Circulation — is there a pulse or severe bleeding?
- Recovery position — keeps the airway open in an unconscious person
- CPR — chest compressions when circulation stops
A compound of *air* and *way*, first recorded in mining in the nineteenth century, then applied to anatomy and aviation.
Why do airlines use *Airways*?
It named the sky routes they flew. British Airways and several others kept the term from the earliest days of scheduled flight.
What is the upper airway?
The nose, mouth, throat and larynx, as distinct from the trachea and bronchi below.