Library / English Dictionary

SPINAL COLUMN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

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:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("spinal column" is a kind of...):

skeletal structure (any structure created by the skeleton of an organism)

Meronyms (parts of "spinal column"):

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 "spinal column"):

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 ("spinal column" is a part of...):

axial skeleton (the part of the skeleton that includes the skull and spinal column and sternum and ribs)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Looking into the ancient past, an early change in mammals' spinal columns was an important first step in their evolution.

(What makes a mammal a mammal? Our spine, say scientists, National Science Foundation)

A congenital abnormality in the lumbar region of the spine in which the meninges protrude through a defect in the spinal column.

(Lumbar Meningocele, NCI Thesaurus)

Spongy discs located between the vertebrae of the spinal column; composed of the outer annulus fibrosus and inner nucleus pulposus.

(Intervertebral Disc, NCI Thesaurus)

A ligament running the length of the anterior surface of the spinal column and thereby interconnects all the vertebral bodies.

(Anterior Longitudinal Ligament, NCI Thesaurus)

The part of the skeleton that includes the skull and spinal column and sternum and ribs.

(Axial Skeleton, NCI Thesaurus)

Also called spinal column, spine, and vertebral column.

(Backbone, NCI Dictionary)

A congenital abnormality in the cervical region of the spine in which the meninges protrude through a defect in the spinal column.

(Cervical Meningocele, NCI Thesaurus)

A congenital abnormality in the cervical region of the spine in which the spinal cord and meninges protrude through a defect in the spinal column.

(Cervical Myelomeningocele, NCI Thesaurus)

The location of the brain that corresponds to the narrowing of the fourth ventricle into the central canal of the spinal column.

(Obex Region, NCI Thesaurus)

A method of euthanization whereby a subject is anesthetized and the spinal column is dislocated from the skull and brain.

(Anesthesia and Cervical Dislocation Euthanasia, NCI Thesaurus)