OSSICLE

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

Meaning:

A small bone; especially one in the middle ear

Synonyms:

bonelet; ossicle; ossiculum

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("ossicle" is a kind of...):

bone; os (rigid connective tissue that makes up the skeleton of vertebrates)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ossicle"):

auditory ossicle (ossicles of the middle ear that transmit acoustic vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear)

Holonyms ("ossicle" is a part of...):

middle ear; tympanic cavity; tympanum (the main cavity of the ear; between the eardrum and the inner ear)

Derivation:

ossicular (pertaining to the ossicles in the middle ear)