maxilla
Americannoun
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maxillae
plural
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a jaw or jawbone, especially the upper.
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one of the paired appendages immediately behind the mandibles of arthropods.
noun
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the upper jawbone in vertebrates See jaw
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any member of one or two pairs of mouthparts in insects and other arthropods used as accessory jaws
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maxillae
plural
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of maxilla
1670–80; < New Latin, special use of Latin maxilla lower jaw, diminutive of māla (< *maxlā ) upper jaw, cheekbone
Vocabulary lists containing maxilla
Human Anatomy and Physiology - High School
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Animals (Zoology) - Middle School
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Human Anatomy and Physiology - Middle School
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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:
“The injuries I suffered led to a long and difficult recovery that I am still trying to recover from, including treatment for a severe traumatic brain injury, a shattered maxilla and a bone graft procedure.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
The Maori and Moriori skeletal remains, including skulls without mandibles, craniums, loose mandibles and maxilla fragments, were largely collected by Austrian taxidermist and grave robber Andreas Reischek from 1877 to 1889.
From Reuters ● Oct. 2, 2022
The skeletal remains, which include skulls without mandibles, craniums, loose mandibles and maxilla fragments, were handed over in an official ceremony in Vienna on Tuesday, where there was a panel and presentation.
From Reuters ● Sep. 29, 2022
He obtained access to cadaver skulls and analyzed them, with particular focus on what he sees as the face’s most important bone: the maxilla.
From New York Times ● Aug. 20, 2020
Nasal depression more than half as long as maxilla; rectrices twelve.
From British Birds in their Haunts by Rev. C. A. Johns
A few inches away sits a skull the size of a watermelon, thick ivory fangs jutting from its bleached maxillae.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Mandibles rarely present, adapted for piercing; first maxillae with palps; second maxillae forming with hypopharynx a suctorial proboscis.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 4 "Hero" to "Hindu Chronology" by Various
III., 1st maxillae, a, base; b, sheath; c, stylet; c′, muscle.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various
In front or above the mouth is bounded by the labrum, while the mandibles and first maxillae lie on either side of it.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 4 "Hero" to "Hindu Chronology" by Various
Skull: Generally larger in every measurement taken; zygomatic arches shorter; width across alveolar processes of maxillae greater; zygomatic arches more widely spreading, and widest in extreme posterior region rather than in region of jugal-squamosal suture.
From The Pocket Gophers (Genus Thomomys) of Utah, Vol. 1 No. 1 Kansas University Publications. by Stephen D. Durrant
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