Your Adam’s Apple — What It Is, What It Does, and Who Has One
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STORY AT-A-GLANCE
The Adam’s apple is the visible ridge of thyroid cartilage at the front of your larynx (voice box). Everyone has one, though its size and visibility vary by sex, hormones, body fat, and genetics
The Adam’s apple isn’t bone or muscle — it’s made of firm yet flexible hyaline cartilage, which helps shield the vocal cords and anchor muscles that control pitch and tone
During puberty, testosterone enlarges the larynx in many males, making the Adam’s apple more prominent and lowering the pitch of the voice. Females also experience laryngeal growth, but usually to a lesser degree
Its role goes beyond voice: the Adam’s apple helps protect the airway during swallowing by lifting the larynx so food and liquid go into the esophagus rather than the lungs
Pain or soreness in this area is rarely due to the cartilage itself but can stem from nearby structures. Common causes include muscle or throat tension, infections, thyroid disorders, acid reflux, or — in rare cases — laryngeal cancer
If you’ve ever noticed that bump in the middle of your throat and wondered what it’s doing there, you’re not alone. That’s your Adam’s apple, and despite all the mystery around it, it’s just a piece of cartilage on your voice box — a part of the structure that helps you talk, sing, or even laugh.
Some people have an Adam’s apple that sticks out, while others barely see theirs, making them wonder if they have one at all. But the truth is that everyone’s got one — it just looks different from person to person. The appearance of your Adam’s apple has more to do with hormones, body shape, and genetics.
What Is an Adam’s Apple, Exactly?
An Adam’s apple is the ridge you see — or feel — on the front of your throat where two identical plates of thyroid cartilage, called the laminae, meet.1 It sits just above your thyroid gland and in front of your vocal cords, which are inside your voice box, or larynx. Think of it as a piece of structural scaffolding that keeps one of your body’s most delicate instruments — the vocal cords — safe.2
The Adam’s apple is not made up of bone or muscle — It’s a type of cartilage called hyaline cartilage. This gives it a firm but flexible and resilient structure.3
What does the Adam’s apple look like? On the outside, the Adam’s apple appears as a small bump at the front of your throat. Beneath the surface, it’s formed by the two thyroid cartilage plates that meet at the front in a V-shaped angle, creating the ridge that you see or feel.
Where is the Adam’s apple located? If you want to find your Adam’s apple, place two fingers on the middle of your neck just below your chin. Swallow gently. You’ll feel your larynx rise and fall, and the firm ridge at the front is your Adam’s apple.
The angle at which the two cartilage plates meet determines how visible your Adam’s apple looks from the outside — A sharper angle creates a more noticeable bump, while a wider angle makes the ridge less obvious. As described by Kenhub, a learning platform that focuses on human anatomy:4
“In females, the laminae meet at an angle of approximately 120 degrees while in males, the angle is more acute at around 90 degrees. This smaller thyroid angle explains the more pronounced laryngeal prominence seen in males (the ‘Adam’s apple’), longer vocal cords, and lower-pitched voice in males.”
Your body fat also affects visibility, which is why some people have a clear protrusion while others don’t.
Why Is It Called ‘Adam’s Apple’?
The medical term for an Adam’s apple is laryngeal prominence, although some simply call it thyroid cartilage. But if you’re wondering how this body part earned its moniker, one of the more common explanations is quite interesting.5
The name is believed to have biblical origins — The term “Adam’s apple” is tied to the biblical story of Adam and Eve, in the book of Genesis. According to tradition, when Adam ate the forbidden fruit, a piece was said to have lodged in his throat, leaving a visible lump. While this is more legend than fact, the name stuck, and over time the throat bump became associated with that story.6
However, some say it was derived from “centuries of linguistic evolution and a bit of mistranslation” — The name was believed to have roots in early European and Arabic medical texts. In the 1600s, some Latin writings used fruit terms — like pomegranate — to describe the throat’s protrusion.
Arabic medical sources also compared this body part to a pomegranate — When these descriptions were translated into English, the imagery shifted, and over time the phrase “Adam’s apple” became the common term.7
So What Does the Adam’s Apple Do?
Your Adam’s apple isn’t what makes sound, but it’s a key part of the system that allows you to speak, sing, shout, or whisper. To give you a better idea, it’s important to know how your body produces sounds.
Sound begins when air from your lungs passes through the larynx — This causes your vocal cords to vibrate, like strings on an instrument. As the Cleveland Clinic explains:8
“When you breathe in (inhale) and breathe out (exhale), your vocal cords open so air can flow freely. When you speak, your vocal cords close by meeting in the middle of your exhaled airstream and vibrate. The vibration creates the sound of your voice.”
Your Adam’s apple isn’t just about voice — Its placement at the front of your throat gives it a second, equally important job: protection. The thyroid cartilage works like a protective frame, keeping your vocal cords safe from outside pressure and giving the muscles and ligaments inside a stable surface to pull against when adjusting pitch and to
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