the.com/swallowing
The throat's one-way bouncer, shoving food past the lungs without a single fatal mix-up.
means The muscular process of moving food, liquid, or saliva from the mouth down the esophagus into the stomach.
from From Old English swelgan, to engulf or devour, a word as gulpy as the act it names.
Daily countHumans swallow roughly 600 to 900 times a day.
Reflex relayOnce started, it cannot be voluntarily stopped.
Airway shutdownThe epiglottis seals the windpipe each swallow.
Three phasesOral, pharyngeal, and esophageal stages chain together.