Definition of "hyaline" [hy•a•line]

• Resembling glass, as in translucence or transparency; glassy. (adjective)
• Something that is translucent or transparent. (noun)
• Variant of hyalin. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "At the time, the malady was called hyaline membrane disease because glassy membranes were found in autopsies of infants who had gasped for breath and quickly died."
• "Respiratory distress syndrome also known as hyaline membrane disease occurs when the underdeveloped lungs of the premature infant cannot expand and contract as they should with each inspiration."
• "Two other daughters preceding Dominique died in infancy from a lung disease once common in cesarean births known as hyaline membrane disease."