hyoid

American  

[hahy-oid] / ˈhaɪ ɔɪd /

adjective

1. Also hyoidal hyoidean noting or pertaining to a U -shaped bone at the root of the tongue in humans, or a corresponding bone or collection of bones in animals.

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noun

1. the hyoid bone.

hyoid British  

/ ˈhaɪɔɪd /

adjective

1. of or relating to the hyoid bone

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noun

1. the horseshoe-shaped bone that lies at the base of the tongue and above the thyroid cartilage

2. a corresponding bone or group of bones in other vertebrates

Other Word Forms

• posthyoid
  adjective
• subhyoid
  adjective
• subhyoidean
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of hyoid

1700–10; < New Latin hȳoïdes < Greek hȳoeidḗs, shaped like the letter hypsilon (i.e. upsilon), equivalent to hȳ- (derivative of letter name hŷ, variant of ŷ; see upsilon) + -oeidēs -oid

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hyoid

"Our expectations were simply following along with that consensus, but once we sampled the hyoid and saw features that strongly indicated maturity, we knew that we had to examine that idea more skeptically."

From Science Daily ● Apr. 15, 2026

Poust noted that he did not expect the hyoid to be such a reliable indicator of age.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 15, 2026

Another gill arch eventually evolved into a head bone called the hyoid.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 1, 2023

In fish the branchial arches form the jaws, the hyoid bone that supports the back of the jaw, and the skeleton that forms the throat and gill slits.

From Science Magazine ● May 24, 2023

The hyoid of B. taylori differs from that of B. musculus principally in the shape of the basihyal.

From Speciation and Evolution of the Pygmy Mice, Genus Baiomys by Robert L. Packard