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a little cavity, pit, or cell, as a cell of a honeycomb.
an air cell of the lungs, formed by the terminal dilation of tiny air passageways.
one of the terminal secretory units of a racemose gland.
the socket within the jawbone in which the root or roots of a tooth are set.
Historical Examples

Limited portions of the alveolus are frequently broken in the extraction of teeth.
Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities–Head–Neck. Sixth Edition. Alexander Miles

A dental plate should be fitted to fill up the gap in the alveolus.
Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities–Head–Neck. Sixth Edition. Alexander Miles

A muco-purulent discharge escapes from within the free edge of the gum and alveolus.
Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities–Head–Neck. Sixth Edition. Alexander Miles

In the Atlantic City specimen the axis of the tooth where it emerges from the alveolus is 91 mm.
The Beaked Whales of the Family Ziphidae Frederick True

The tooth should be pulled out straight, lest the alveolus be broken.
Surgical Instruments in Greek and Roman Times John Stewart Milne

The alveolus lies entirely behind the symphysis, its anterior end being 160 mm.
The Beaked Whales of the Family Ziphidae Frederick True

The teeth all are present and entire except that p2 on the right side is missing from its alveolus.
American Weasels E. Raymond Hall

“B” is a right ramus bearing m2 and the roots of m3 and is broken off at the middle of the alveolus of m1.
Pleistocene Soricidae from San Josecito Cave, Nuevo Leon, Mexico James S. Findley

When in the natural position, these teeth protrude about 33 mm., or a little more than one-third their height, above the alveolus.
The Beaked Whales of the Family Ziphidae Frederick True

What is meant is a piece of the alveolar process, or portion of bone around the alveolus.
Every-Day Errors of Speech L. P. Meredith

noun (pl) -li (-ˌlaɪ)
any small pit, cavity, or saclike dilation, such as a honeycomb cell
any of the sockets in which the roots of the teeth are embedded
any of the tiny air sacs in the lungs at the end of the bronchioles, through which oxygen is taken into the blood
n.

1706, from Latin alveolus “a tray, trough, basin; bed of a small river,” diminutive of alvus “belly, stomach, paunch, bowels; hold of a ship,” from PIE *aulo- “hole, cavity” (cf. Greek aulos “tube, pipe,” Old Church Slavonic uliji, Lithuanian aulys “beehive” (hollow trunk), Armenian yli “pregnant”).

alveolus al·ve·o·lus (āl-vē’ə-ləs)
n. pl. al·ve·o·li (-lī’)
A small angular cavity or pit, such as a tooth socket or an air sac.
alveolus
(āl-vē’ə-ləs)
Plural alveoli (āl-vē’ə-lī’)
Any of the tiny air-filled sacs arranged in clusters in the lungs, in which the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place. Also called air sac.