navicular
/nə'vikjulə/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective:
- Shaped like a boat: Having a form that resembles the hull of a boat; specifically, describing a bone with a concave surface.
Noun:
- A specific bone in the wrist or foot: In human anatomy, it refers to one of the carpal bones in the wrist (also called the scaphoid bone) or a tarsal bone in the foot.
Examples of Usage
Adjective:
- The navicular shape of the bone is clearly visible in the X-ray.
- The geologist found a navicular fossil, curved like a small canoe.
Noun:
- A fracture of the navicular is a common wrist injury among athletes.
- The podiatrist examined the patient's foot navicular for signs of stress.
Advanced Usage
- "Navicular disease": A specific, chronic lameness in horses, affecting the navicular bone and surrounding structures in the hoof.
- The veterinarian diagnosed the horse with navicular disease.
Variants and Related Words
- Scaphoid (adj/n): A synonym, especially in medical contexts, for the navicular bone in the wrist.
- Scaphoid fractures can be difficult to detect on initial X-rays.
Synonyms
- Adjective: Boat-shaped, cymbiform, scaphoid.
- Noun (for the wrist bone): Scaphoid bone, os scaphoideum.
Related Terms (Anatomical)
- Carpal bones: The group of eight small bones that make up the wrist, which includes the navicular (scaphoid).
- Tarsal bones: The group of seven bones in the foot, which includes the navicular bone.
Adjective
- shaped like a boat
Noun
- the largest wrist bone on the thumb side