| / English Dictionary |
SPINE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A sharp rigid animal process or appendage; as a porcupine quill or a ridge on a bone or a ray of a fish fin
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("spine" is a kind of...):
appendage; outgrowth; process (a natural prolongation or projection from a part of an organism either animal or plant)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spine"):
ray (any of the stiff bony spines in the fin of a fish)
quill (a stiff hollow protective spine on a porcupine or hedgehog)
Derivation:
spinal (of or relating to the spine or spinal cord)
spinous (shaped like a spine or thorn)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The part of a book's cover that encloses the inner side of the book's pages and that faces outward when the book is shelved
Example:
the title and author were printed on the spine of the book
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("spine" is a kind of...):
part; portion (something less than the whole of a human artifact)
Holonyms ("spine" is a part of...):
book; volume (physical objects consisting of a number of pages bound together)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord
Example:
the fall broke his back
Synonyms:
back; backbone; rachis; spinal column; spine; vertebral column
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("spine" is a kind of...):
skeletal structure (any structure created by the skeleton of an organism)
Meronyms (parts of "spine"):
canalis vertebralis; spinal canal; vertebral canal (the canal in successive vertebrae through which the spinal cord passes)
coccyx; tail bone (the end of the vertebral column in humans and tailless apes)
vertebra (one of the bony segments of the spinal column)
intervertebral disc; intervertebral disk (a fibrocartilaginous disc serving as a cushion between all of the vertebrae of the spinal column (except between the first two))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spine"):
notochord (a flexible rodlike structure that forms the supporting axis of the body in the lowest chordates and lowest vertebrates and in embryos of higher vertebrates)
chine (backbone of an animal)
Holonyms ("spine" is a part of...):
axial skeleton (the part of the skeleton that includes the skull and spinal column and sternum and ribs)
Derivation:
spinal (of or relating to the spine or spinal cord)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A small sharp-pointed tip resembling a spike on a stem or leaf
Synonyms:
pricker; prickle; spikelet; spine; sticker; thorn
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("spine" is a kind of...):
aculeus (a stiff sharp-pointed plant process)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spine"):
glochid; glochidium (a barbed spine or bristle (often tufted on cacti))
Derivation:
spinous (shaped like a spine or thorn)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Any sharply pointed projection
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes
Hypernyms ("spine" is a kind of...):
projection (any solid convex shape that juts out from something)
Derivation:
spinous (shaped like a spine or thorn)
Context examples:
A rare benign bone-forming neoplasm usually arising from the spine.
(Osteoblastoma, NCI Thesaurus)
It is generally caused by a fall from a standing height or lower and usually involves the spine, hip, or wrist.
(Osteoporotic Fracture, NCI Thesaurus)
The pancreas is a gland behind your stomach and in front of your spine.
(Pancreas Transplantation, NIH)
It can occur in any joint, but usually it affects your hands, knees, hips or spine.
(Osteoarthritis, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)
An often asymptomatic developmental abnormality of the cervical spine.
(Odontoid Hypoplasia, NCI Thesaurus)
MRI is especially useful for imaging the brain, the spine, the soft tissue of joints, and the inside of bones.
(MRI, NCI Dictionary)
A procedure in which medicine is injected directly into or around a nerve or into the spine to block pain.
(Nerve block, NCI Dictionary)
NMRI is especially useful for imaging the brain, the spine, the soft tissue of joints, and the inside of bones.
(NMRI, NCI Dictionary)
The natural bend in the spine at the neck.
(Cervical Curve, NCI Thesaurus)
If I lay on my face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to think of that dreadful snap.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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