From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmembranemem‧brane /ˈmembreɪn/ noun [countable, uncountable] 1 HBa very thin piece of skin that covers or connects parts of your body Loud noise can damage the delicate membrane in the ear.2 TPIECEa very thin layer of material that covers something —membranous /ˈmembrənəs/ adjective
Examples from the Corpus
membrane• With one rare exception, all such cell membranes permit translocation in only one direction.• Chloroplast membranes are very susceptible to attack by oxygen radicals which are generated as a by-product of photochemistry.• He had been born with the caul, the inner fetal membrane had covered his head at birth.• These flat roofing materials fall into three major categories: built-up felt roofing, mastic asphalt and single-ply membranes.• The injury caused bleeding beneath the membrane of the brain.• The sodium is only able to pass into the membrane through sodium ion channels distributed along the axon.• Years later, I would think of their sheen as being rather like the membranes enclosing viruses I had read about.• In this image the state in liberal democracies is separated from its society by only a thin membrane of formal legality.Origin membrane (1400-1500) Latin membrana “skin”, from membrum; → MEMBER 