vertebra

American  

[vur-tuh-bruh] / ˈvɜr tə brə /

noun

Anatomy, Zoology.

• vertebrae,
  plural
• vertebras
  plural

1. any of the bones or segments composing the spinal column, consisting typically of a cylindrical body and an arch with various processes, and forming a foramen, or opening, through which the spinal cord passes.

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vertebra British  

/ ˈvɜːtɪbrə /

noun

1. one of the bony segments of the spinal column

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vertebra Scientific  

/ vûr′tə-brə /

• vertebrae
  plural

1. Any of the bones that make up the vertebral column. Each vertebra contains an arched, hollow section through which the spinal cord passes. In humans, the vertebrae are divided into cervical, thoracic, and lumbar sections, and the sacrum and coccyx are both made up of a series of fused vertebrae. The vertebrae are separated by cartilaginous intervertebral disks.

2. See more at skeleton

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• vertebral
  adjective
• vertebrally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vertebrae
  plural
• vertebras
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vertebra

1570–80; < Latin: (spinal) joint, equivalent to verte ( re ) to turn ( see verse) + -bra noun suffix

Explanation

A vertebra is one of the little bones in your spinal column; there are vertebrae up and down your back. Your whole body is full of bones, and one of those types of bones are vertebrae: the bones in your back. These bones are very important because they protect your spinal column, which allows your brain to communicate with the rest of your body. A serious back injury could damage a vertebra, resulting in pain or spinal damage. If you bend over and then straighten up slowly, you can feel yourself rising one vertebra at a time.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vertebra vertebrae vertebras

Their analysis showed that the fossils consisted of an anterior trunk vertebra, a mid trunk vertebra, and a sacro-caudal vertebra.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 24, 2026

However, the fossil that led to the discovery of the new species was a recovered dorsal vertebra — a bone from the middle or upper back — which showed distinctive characteristics.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

McKellen suffered a chipped vertebra and fractured wrist, but he says the doctors didn’t find anything else wrong with him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026

Her mineralized vertebra of a juvenile Jurassic ichthyosaur exudes: “Now I am a treasure for you to love—a part of me to call your own.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026

Now and again we passed a leiter-wagon—the ordinary peasant’s cart—with its long, snake-like vertebra, calculated to suit the inequalities of the road.

From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker

The work is based on an analysis of several 11-million-year-old vertebrae from one animal, found in Denmark.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

Their vertebrae fused, while mineral deposits caused the tissue between the bones to become abnormally hard.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

That tower is extraordinary, with its deep-set curved windows arrayed like a supple column of vertebrae.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

The vertebrae line up to create a series of ball-and-socket joints running from head to tail.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026

In December 2010, descendants of John’s older brother, Edwin, agreed to dig up his remain see if DNA from his body is a match for the DNA in the vertebrae housed at Walter Reed.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly

A little aft of “midships” a pyramidal lump of fatty substance projected several feet above the line of the vertebras.

From The Ocean Waifs A Story of Adventure on Land and Sea by Mayne Reid

These are the Rocky Mountains, the American Andes, the colossal vertebras of the continent!

From The Scalp Hunters by F.A. Stewart

Its peculiar characteristic is its extraordinary fragility— arising from the muscles being articulated quite through the vertebras.

From The Western World Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North and South America by William Henry Giles Kingston

They consist of one of the bones of the cranium, fifteen or twenty vertebras, two entire ribs, and part of a third, one thigh bone, two bones of the leg, &c.

From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 13, No. 354, January 31, 1829 by Various

These vertebras are piled up one upon the other; for God has made our bodies upright; our faces, are lifted upwards, and our eyes look straight before us.

From Twilight and Dawn Simple Talks on the Six Days of Creation by Caroline Pridham