Library / English Dictionary

SPHENOID

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Butterfly-shaped bone at the base of the skull

Synonyms:

os sphenoidale; sphenoid; sphenoid bone

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

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

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

Meronyms (parts of "sphenoid"):

crotaphion (the tip of the greater wing of the sphenoid bone)

pterygoid process (two bony processes descending from the body of the sphenoid bone)

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

skull (the bony skeleton of the head of vertebrates)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Seven bones contribute to the structure of the orbit: the frontal, maxillary, zygomatic, sphenoid, lacrimal, ethmoid, and palatine bones.

(Murine Orbit, NCI Thesaurus)

A thin, flat, triangular muscle originating from the lesser wing of the sphenoid above and in front of the optic canal and inserts at the upper margin of the superior tarsal plate to elevate the upper eye lid.

(Levator Palpebrae Superioris, NCI Thesaurus)