Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AU'RI-CLE, n. [L. auricula, dim. from auris, the ear.]

1. The external ear, or that part which is prominent from the head.
2. The auricles of the heart are two muscular bags, situated at the base, serving as diverticula for the blood, during the diastole. They resemble the auricle of the ear, and cover the ventricles of the heart, like caps. Their systole or contraction corresponds to the diastole of the heart, and vice versa. They receive the blood from the veins, and communicate it to the ventricles. – Encyc. Chambers.