costa

¹

[ kos-tuh, kaw-stuh ]

noun

, plural cos·tae [kos, -tee, kaw, -stee].

1. a rib or riblike part.
2. the midrib of a leaf in mosses.
3. a ridge.
4. Entomology.
   1. Also called costal vein. a vein, usually marginal, in the anterior portion of the wing of certain insects.
   2. Also called costal margin. the anterior edge or border of the wing of certain insects.

Costa

²

[ kaw-stuh ]

noun

1. Lú·cio [loo, -syoo], 1902–98, Brazilian architect, chief designer of Brasilia.

costa

/ ˈkɒstə /

noun

1. See rib
   the technical name for rib 1
2. a riblike part, such as the midrib of a plant leaf

costa

/ kŏs′tə /

, Plural costae kŏs′tē

1. A rib or a riblike part, such as the midrib of a leaf or a thickened anterior vein or margin of an insect's wing.

Derived Forms

• ˈcostal, adjective

Other Words From

• pseu·do·cos·ta noun plural pseudocostae

Word History and Origins

Origin of costa¹

1865–70; < Latin: rib, side. See coast

Word History and Origins

Origin of costa¹

C19: from Latin: rib, side, wall

Example Sentences

As occupants of safe blue seats, Case and Costa would seem like natural targets.

From FiveThirtyEight

Costa, who is an expert on tsunami deposits, says that reconstructing the lay of the seafloor at that time of the impact and conducting experiments could help unravel the origins of the structures found by Kinsland’s team.

From Science News

The sweeping scale and intimate access to political heavyweights—Costa spends time in cars and at home with Rousseff and Lula—are impressive.

From Time

What Tobar and Costa noted is that other arrangements of matter generate different paths through spacetime that loop back to the original position, and significantly, also back to the original time.

From Nautilus

The unexpected finding by Tobar and Costa is that under certain broad conditions, not just one but multiple CTCs exist and trace different paths as they loop back to the same point in spacetime.

From Nautilus

President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias laid a calming hand on 1980s El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama.

From The Daily Beast

But Switzerland, New Zealand, and Costa Rica cannot hold back the New Chaos.

From The Daily Beast

And Costa Rica, for a host of historical reasons, has always been more stable than its neighbors.

From The Daily Beast

But even the Costa Concordia tragedy has its own subtle racism.

From The Daily Beast

None of this is to say that the wreck and salvage of the Costa Concordia should have received less attention.

From The Daily Beast

Signer Costa was at the Festival in 1829, and he afterwards appeared on the stage at the Royal.

From Project Gutenberg

The underside of the upper wings have the costa and summit covered with spots and minute incontinuous lines of a yellowish colour.

From Project Gutenberg

The upper ones have their costa blackish, and a triangular border at their extremity rather dentated on the inside.

From Project Gutenberg

De Costa's defence of the genuineness of the accounts referred to is simple and to the point.

From Project Gutenberg

Both he and his wife remained residents of Contra Costa county, California, until called to their final rest.

From Project Gutenberg