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either of the two saclike respiratory organs in the thorax of humans and the higher vertebrates.
an analogous organ in certain invertebrates, as arachnids or terrestrial gastropods.
at the top of one’s lungs, as loudly as possible; with full voice:
The baby cried at the top of his lungs.
Contemporary Examples

The prices of alternatives to lung transplants are doing the same thing.
Why Do We Want Prices in Health Care? Megan McArdle February 26, 2013

The tube was to be inserted so it could suction out the blood and air packed in the chest and prevent the lung from collapsing.
Jimmy Breslin on JFK’s Assassination: Two Classic Columns Jimmy Breslin November 21, 2013

lung cancer may be the official cause of Joe Paterno’s death, but the trauma of recent months may have helped speed his demise.
Did Penn State’s Sex-Abuse Case Bring On the Death of Joe Paterno? Casey Schwartz January 22, 2012

The others have frozen to death, died of lung injury, or been crushed by the wheel mechanism.
How to Hitchhike a Plane—and Survive Kent Sepkowitz April 21, 2014

Doctors discovered a spot on his lung, he said, but he made it into the military anyway.
Child-Murder Arrest After 53 Years Winston Ross August 5, 2011

Historical Examples

The lung was not yet attacked, but the bronchial tubes were affected.
The Bramleighs Of Bishop’s Folly Charles James Lever

He had ample girth of chest at the cinches, where lung capacity is best measured.
Way of the Lawless Max Brand

At last she succumbed to an attack of lung trouble and passed away.
Blazing The Way Emily Inez Denny

There was a meeting, and Garfield was shot through the lung.
The Snare Rafael Sabatini

But what mattered it if I had half a lung more or less than of yore?
Eighteen Months’ Imprisonment Donald Shaw

noun
either one of a pair of spongy saclike respiratory organs within the thorax of higher vertebrates, which oxygenate the blood and remove its carbon dioxide
any similar or analogous organ in other vertebrates or in invertebrates
at the top of one’s lungs, in one’s loudest voice; yelling
n.

“human respiratory organ,” c.1300, from Old English lungen (plural), from Proto-Germanic *lungw- (cf. Old Norse lunge, Old Frisian lungen, Middle Dutch longhe, Dutch long, Old High German lungun, German lunge “lung”), literally “the light organ,” from PIE *legwh- “not heavy, having little weight; easy, agile, nimble” (cf. Russian lëgkij, Polish lekki “light;” Russian lëgkoje “lung,” Greek elaphros “light” in weight; see also lever).

The notion probably is from the fact that, when thrown into a pot of water, lungs of a slaughtered animal float, while the heart, liver, etc., do not. Cf. also Portuguese leve “lung,” from Latin levis “light;” Irish scaman “lungs,” from scaman “light;” Welsh ysgyfaint “lungs,” from ysgafn “light.” See also lights, pulmonary. Lung cancer attested from 1882.

lung (lŭng)
n.
Either of the two saclike organs of respiration that occupy the pulmonary cavity of the thorax and in which aeration of the blood takes place. It is common for the right lung, which is divided into three lobes, to be slightly larger than the left, which has two lobes.
lung
(lŭng)

Either of two spongy organs in the chest of air-breathing vertebrate animals that serve as the organs of gas exchange. Blood flowing through the lungs picks up oxygen from inhaled air and releases carbon dioxide, which is exhaled. Air enters and leaves the lungs through the bronchial tubes.

A similar organ found in some invertebrates.

see: at the top of one’s lungs