Vestibule

vestibule: that portion of the vulva which is bounded anteriorly by the clitoral glans and prepuce (clitoral hood), posteriorly by the perineum, and laterally by the exterior margins of the labia minora, and containing the opening anteriorly of the urethral meatus and posteriorly of the introitus of the vagina.

Dictionary of Sexology Project: Main Index

Vestibule is the term used by NASA for the common area created by the docking of the International Space Station and any other space vehicle (such as the Shuttle). The vestibule allows the transfer of goods and/or people, especially in circumstances where the pressure differential between the two environment's atmospheres are too dissimilar to allow an open passage.

Ves"ti*bule (?), n. [L. vestibulum, of uncertain origin: cf. F. vestibule.]

The porch or entrance into a house; a hall or antechamber next the entrance; a lobby; a porch; a hall.

Vestibule of the ear. (Anat.) See under Ear. --
Vestibule of the vulva (Anat.), a triangular space between the nymphæ, in which the orifice of the urethra is situated. --
Vestibule train (Railroads), a train of passenger cars having the space between the end doors of adjacent cars inclosed, so as to admit of leaving the doors open to provide for intercommunication between all the cars.

Syn. -- Hall; passage. -- Vestibule, Hall, Passage. A vestibule is a small apartment within the doors of a building. A hall is the first large apartment beyond the vestibule, and, in the United States, is often long and narrow, serving as a passage to the several apartments. In England, the hall is generally square or oblong, and a long, narrow space of entrance is called a passage, not a hall, as in America. Vestibule is often used in a figurative sense to denote a place of entrance. "The citizens of Rome placed the images of their ancestors in the vestibules of their houses." Bolingbroke

 

© Webster 1913

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Ves"ti*bule (?), v. t.

To furnish with a vestibule or vestibules. Brander Matthews.

 

© Webster 1913