SPINAL COLUMN
Dictionary entry overview: What does spinal column mean?
• SPINAL COLUMN (noun)
The noun SPINAL COLUMN has 1 sense:
1. the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord
Familiarity information: SPINAL COLUMN used as a noun is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
• SPINAL COLUMN (noun)
Meaning:
The series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord
Classified under:
Nouns denoting body parts
Synonyms:
spinal column; spine; vertebral column; rachis; backbone; back
Context example:
the fall broke his back
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)
