meatus

[mee-ey-tuh s]

noun, plural me·a·tus·es, me·a·tus. Anatomy.

an opening or foramen, especially in a bone or bony structure, as the opening of the ear or nose.

Origin of meatus

1655–65; < Latin meātus course, channel, equivalent to meā(re) to go, extend, have a course + -tus suffix of v. action

Related formsme·a·tal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for meatus

Historical Examples of meatus

This is least objectionable in cases of stricture close to the meatus.
A Manual of the Operations of Surgery
Joseph Bell
Here is a cochlea; a meatus; and, as it should seem, more than one tympanum.
An Introduction to Entomology: Vol. II (of 4)
William Kirby
This is repeated with fresh pledgets until the meatus is cleansed.
A System of Operative Surgery, Volume IV (of 4)
Various
Klliker states however that the blind end of the meatus becomes actually pushed in towards the tympanic cavity.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume III (of 4)
Francis Maitland Balfour
The tympanic membrane is derived from the tissue which separates the meatus auditorius externus from the tympanic cavity.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume III (of 4)
Francis Maitland Balfour

British Dictionary definitions for meatus

meatus

noun plural -tuses or -tus

anatomy a natural opening or channel, such as the canal leading from the outer ear to the eardrum

Word Origin for meatus

C17: from Latin: passage, from meāre to pass

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

meatus in Medicine

meatus

[mē-ā′təs]

n. pl. me•a•tus•es

A body opening or passage, especially the external opening of a canal.