costal
Americanadjective
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Anatomy. pertaining to the ribs or the upper sides of the body.
costal nerves.
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Botany, Zoology. pertaining to, involving, or situated near a costa.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of costal
1625–35; < Medieval Latin costālis of the ribs, equivalent to Latin cost ( a ) rib, side + -ālis -al 1
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.
This provided direct evidence of costal aspiration breathing, where muscles between the ribs expand and compress the chest cavity to pull air into the lungs.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 23, 2026
G's Cool Spot was well known among locals and British holidaymakers visiting the costal town of Black River in St Elizabeth.
From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2025
Tests later revealed he broke the costal cartilage of his sixth rib.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2024
Hundreds of thousands of people were facing power outages on Tuesday that could take days to restore after a sweeping costal storm battered the Northeast with whipping winds and soaking downpours.
From New York Times ● Dec. 19, 2023
In the dog and cat the ribs are thick and almost cylindrical; the costal cartilages are thicker at the margin of the sternum than at their costal extremity.
From Artistic Anatomy of Animals by ?douard Cuyer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
