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carpus

American  
[kahr-puhs] / ˈkɑr pəs /

noun

Anatomy.
  • carpi
    plural
  1. the part of the upper extremity between the hand and the forearm; wrist.

  2. the wrist bones collectively; the group of bones between the bones of the hand and the radius.


carpus British  
/ ˈkɑːpəs /

noun

  1. the technical name for wrist

  2. the eight small bones of the human wrist that form the joint between the arm and the hand

  3. the corresponding joint in other tetrapod vertebrates

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

carpus Scientific  
/ kärpəs /
  • carpi
    plural
  1. The group of eight bones lying between the forearm and the metacarpals and forming the wrist in humans.

  2. The group of bones making up the joint corresponding to the wrist in some vertebrates, such as dinosaurs.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of carpus

1670–80; < New Latin < Greek karpós wrist

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The radius and ulna also articulate with the carpal bones and with each other, which in vertebrates enables a variable degree of rotation of the carpus with respect to the long axis of the limb.

From Textbooks Jun. 9, 2022

At the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, many a campus carpus has felt the sting dealt out by 69-year-old Otelia Connor.

From Time Magazine Archive

The hand in animals, as in man, is formed of three parts—the carpus, metacarpus, and fingers.

From Artistic Anatomy of Animals by ?douard Cuyer

The lower surface shows that the wing had some rotary movement upon the carpus outward and backward.

From Dragons of the Air An Account of Extinct Flying Reptiles by H. G. Seeley

We mentioned above that the ‘tendon’ descends vertically from the carpus towards the fetlocks.

From Artistic Anatomy of Animals by ?douard Cuyer

Spieth has been dealing with an injury to his extensor carpi ulnaris, a major tendon in the wrist.

From Seattle Times Apr. 10, 2024

Msituni suffered from hyperextended carpi — wrist joint bones in giraffes’ front limbs, which are more like arms.

From Seattle Times May 13, 2022

The flexor carpi ulnaris, for instance, is a muscle in the forearm that bends the wrist — exactly as its name suggests.

From New York Times Sep. 21, 2021

Here the vessel is more superficial, lying in the groove between the flexor carpi radialis and supinator longus.

From A Manual of the Operations of Surgery For the Use of Senior Students, House Surgeons, and Junior Practitioners by Joseph Bell

The flexor carpi ulnaris may also be anastomosed with the common extensor of the fingers.

From Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Alexis Thomson

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