fossa
1 Americannoun
noun
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fossa1
1820–30; < Latin: ditch, trench, fosse, short for fossa ( terra ) dug or dug out (earth), noun use of feminine of fossus, past participle of fodere to dig
Origin of fossa2
1830–40; < Malagasy; compare earlier fossane (< French < Malagasy)
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:
It is home to wildlife such as ring-tailed lemurs, the long-tailed cat, the fossa, spiny hedgehog-like mammals called tenrecs and nocturnal primates known as aye-ayes.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2023
The medial surface of the upper ilium forms the iliac fossa, with the arcuate line marking the inferior limit of this area.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
A small area of the ethmoid bone, consisting of the crista galli and cribriform plates, is located at the midline of this fossa.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
The middle cranial fossa is divided at the midline by the upward bony prominence of the sella turcica, a part of the sphenoid bone.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
It projects more or less beyond the supraspinous fossa in front.
From Artistic Anatomy of Animals by Cuyer, ?douard
The floor of the cranial cavity increases in depth from front to back and is divided into three cranial fossae.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
Posteriorly, the spine separates the supraspinous and infraspinous fossae, and then extends laterally as the acromion.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
The lesser wing of the sphenoid bone separates the anterior and middle cranial fossae.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
In, err, long… muscles – particularly big, strong muscles like those involved in any hypothetical trunk – leave visible attachment sites, such as crests, scars, or fossae.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 20, 2012
In comparing the ventral views of skulls note especially the size and location of incisive foramina and posterior palatine foramina as well as the breadth of mesopterygoid fossae.
From Comments on the Taxonomic Status of Apodemus peninsulae, with Description of a New Subspecies from North China by Jones, J. Knox
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.
