foramen
an opening, orifice, or short passage, as in a bone or in the integument of the ovule of a plant.
Origin of foramen
1Other words from foramen
- fo·ram·i·nal [fuh-ram-uh-nl], /fəˈræm ə nl/, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use foramen in a sentence
The super-orbital foramina just under the horns, which are marked in most antelope and deer, are very minute in Pantholops.
Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon | Robert A. SterndaleHe regarded them as minute Cephalopods, whose chambers communicated by pores (foramina).
In front of the exoccipital is the large pro-otic pierced by two prominent foramina.
The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. ReynoldsAnteriorly it is pierced by a pair of small foramina through which the ophthalmic branches of the trigeminal nerve pass out.
The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. ReynoldsThe foramina lie however very close together and are sometimes confluent.
The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
British Dictionary definitions for foramen
/ (fɒˈreɪmɛn) /
a natural hole, esp one in a bone through which nerves and blood vessels pass
Origin of foramen
1Derived forms of foramen
- foraminal (fɒˈræmɪnəl), adjective
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
Scientific definitions for foramen
[ fə-rā′mən ]
An opening or short passage, especially in the body.♦ The large opening in the base of the skull through which the spinal cord passes is called the foramen magnum (măg′nəm).♦ The opening in the septum between the right and left atria of the heart, present in the fetus but usually closed soon after birth, is the foramen ovale (ō-văl′ē, -vā′lē, -vä′-).
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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