EPIGLOTTIS

Jack's Reference Book for Home and Office : An Encyclopaedia of General Information: Medical Dictionary · 1909 · p. 2

is the lid iy that guards the entrance to the larynx or upper end of the wind-pipe. In swallowing tho ne fe is drawn forwards and upwards and the epiglottis shut down over the glottis or aperture that the free presents; food is thus directed backwards into the gullet and is prevented from falling into the wind-pipe. [s. 360]