Spine

Quick meaning: Spine is a noun meaning Something resembling a backbone, such as a ridge, or a long, central structure from which other structures radiate.

Meaning

Something resembling a backbone, such as a ridge, or a long, central structure from which other structures radiate.

More Meanings

1. (botany) The heartwood of trees.
2. (neuroscience) Ellipsis of dendritic spine.
3. A linear payscale operated by some large organizations that allows flexibility for local and specific conditions.
4. (geology) A tall mass of viscous lava extruded from a volcano.
5. (anatomy, zootomy) A series of bones situated at the back from the head to the pelvis of a human, or from the head to the tail of an animal, enclosing the spinal cord and providing support for the thorax and abdomen.
6. The narrow, bound edge of a book that encloses the inner edges of the pages, facing outwards when the book is on a shelf and typically bearing the title and the author's and publisher's name.
7. (zootomy, botany, mycology) A pointed, fairly rigid protuberance or needlelike structure on an animal, shell, mushroom or plant. The botanical term technically refers to such a structure derived from a leaf or part of a leaf.

Example Sentences

The male, as Dr. Gunther informs me, has a cluster of stiff, straight spines, like those of a comb, on the sides of the tail.

If you attentively regard almost any quadruped's spine, you will be struck with the resemblance of its vertebrae to a strung necklace of dwarfed skulls.

The spine is the book's backbone. Because the spine is generally all you can see when a book is on the shelf, the spine displays the title and author of the book and is often ornately decorated.

The polyhedron P∪D is a special spine of the twice punctured M, that is, of M with two balls B₁, B₂ cut out of it. To get a spine of M, we make a hole in c′ or c″ depending on which of them is a common face of these balls.

Word Forms

• spines

Synonyms for spine

Depending on context, synonyms include backbone, back, needle, prickle, quill, spicule.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include backbone, thorn, prickle, spur, back, ridge.

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