From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdiaphragmdi‧a‧phragm /ˈdaɪəfræm/ noun [countable] 1 HBthe muscle that is between your lungs and your stomach, and that you use when you breathe2 MBSYa round rubber object that a woman can put inside her vagina to stop her from getting pregnant3 TCC technical a thin round object, especially in a telephone or loudspeaker, that is moved by sound or that moves when it produces sound4 technical a round flat part inside a camera that controls the amount of light that enters the camera
Examples from the Corpus
diaphragm• More modern valves contain a diaphragm instead of a washer, and are generally far more reliable.• Rigidity is not an issue with the electrostatic diaphragm.• On her way home, she tossed her diaphragm in the first bin at Kennedy Airport.• One wall of the cell is a flexible stainless steel diaphragm connected through a strain gauge to a recorder.• Regardless of the undertow of danger, Johnnie would not give back the diaphragm case.• As solvent diffuses through the membrane, the increase in volume causes the diaphragm to move.• Lack of awareness of late presentation of traumatic rupture of the diaphragm in children may result in a delay in diagnosis.• Most patients succumb when the diaphragm and rib muscles become paralyzed, and breathing becomes impossible.Origin diaphragm (1300-1400) Late Latin diaphragma, from Greek diaphrassein “to make a fence across, block” 