Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Cochlea \Coch"le*a\, n. [L., a snail, or snail shell, Gr. ? a
   snail, fr. ? a shellfish with a spiral shell.] (Anat.)
   An appendage of the labyrinth of the internal ear, which is
   elongated and coiled into a spiral in mammals. See {Ear}.

Source : WordNet®

cochlea
     n : the snail-shaped tube (in the inner ear coiled around the
         modiolus) where sound vibrations are converted into nerve
         impulses by the Organ of Corti
     [also: {cochleae} (pl)]