Spine
[spaɪn]
Definition
(noun.) a sharp rigid animal process or appendage; as a porcupine quill or a ridge on a bone or a ray of a fish fin.
(noun.) 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; 'the title and author were printed on the spine of the book'.
(noun.) a small sharp-pointed tip resembling a spike on a stem or leaf.
Editor: Madge--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A sharp appendage to any of a plant; a thorn.
(n.) A rigid and sharp projection upon any part of an animal.
(n.) One of the rigid and undivided fin rays of a fish.
(n.) The backbone, or spinal column, of an animal; -- so called from the projecting processes upon the vertebrae.
(n.) Anything resembling the spine or backbone; a ridge.
Typed by Annette
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Thorn.[2]. Backbone, spinal column, vertebral column.[3]. Shin, forepart of the leg.
Typist: Remington
Definition
n. a thorn: a thin pointed spike esp. in fishes: the backbone of an animal: any ridge extending lengthways: the heart-wood of trees.—adjs. Spined having spines; Spine′less having no spine weak; Spines′cent somewhat spiny; Spīnif erous bearing spines or thorns; Spī′niform shaped like a spine or thorn; Spīnig′erous bearing spines as a hedgehog; Spī′nigrade moving by means of spines as an echinoderm.—n. Spī′niness.—adjs. Spīnirec′tor erecting the spine of the muscles of the back; Spīnispir′ular spiny and somewhat spiral.—ns. Spīnī′tis inflammation of the spinal cord in the horse &c; Spin′ney Spin′ny a small thicket with underwood.—adjs. Spī′nose Spī′nous full of spines: thorny.—ns. Spinos′ity thorniness; Spin′ūla Spin′ūle a minute spine.—adjs. Spin′ūlāte Spin′ūlōse Spin′ūlous covered with spinules or minute spines; Spī′ny full of spines: thorny: troublesome: perplexed.
Inputed by Delia
Examples
- It is impossible to express with what acuteness I felt the convict's breathing, not only on the back of my head, but all along my spine. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- In the sea-urchins the steps can be followed by which a fixed spine becomes articulated to the shell, and is thus rendered movable. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- You recollect my mentioning Sarah, as the one that has something the matter with her spine? Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- He felt a slight shiver down his spine as he ventured this, but her laugh reassured him. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Her being suffused into his veins like a magnetic darkness, and concentrated at the base of his spine like a fearful source of power. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- She was mystified; but when she saw the printed words beneath her signature, she felt a cold, clammy chill run up her spine. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- Thus every gradation, from an ordinary fixed spine to a fixed pedicellariae, would be of service. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- In this case the identity in nature between the arms of the pedicellariae and the movable branches of a spine, is unmistakable. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Birkin, as he drove, felt a creeping of the spine, as if somebody was threatening his neck. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- But the great centre of his force held steady, a magnificent pride to him, at the base of his spine. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- And Sarah's here--the one I mentioned to you as having something the matter with her spine, you know. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Sarah has something the matter with her spine, poor girl. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- If I lay on my face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to think of that dreadful snap. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- What an exquisite shudder it sent shivering along one's spine! Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- In certain genera of star-fishes, the very combinations needed to show that the pedicellariae are only modified branching spines may be found. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
Checked by Beth