meniscus
Americannoun
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a crescent or a crescent-shaped body.
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the convex or concave upper surface of a column of liquid, the curvature of which is caused by surface tension.
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Optics. a lens with a crescent-shaped section; a concavo-convex or convexo-concave lens.
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Anatomy. a disk of cartilage between the articulating ends of the bones in a joint.
noun
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the curved upper surface of a liquid standing in a tube, produced by the surface tension
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a crescent or half-moon-shaped body or design
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a crescent-shaped fibrous cartilage between the bones at certain joints, esp at the knee
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a crescent-shaped lens; a concavo-convex or convexo-concave lens
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A lens that is concave on one side and convex on the other.
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The curved upper surface of a column of liquid in a container. The surface is concave if the molecules of the liquid are attracted to the container walls and convex if they are not.
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See also surface tension
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A piece of cartilage shaped like a crescent and located at the junction of two bones in a joint. The meniscus acts to absorb shock.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of meniscus
1685–95; < New Latin < Greek mēnískos crescent, diminutive of mḗnē moon
Explanation
The next time you pour some fluid into a tube, look at it from the side. You will see the liquid has a slight curve, either up or down. This curved surface, created by air pressure, is called a meniscus. The Greeks had a word for the lunar crescent, mēniskos, which itself came from the word for the moon, mḗnē. In the late 17th Century, the word meniscus was given to similarly-curved lenses. Then in 1812, the curved surfaces of liquid were referred to by this word as well. Later, the name was also applied to a crescent-shaped cartilage at the knee, between the tibia and the femur. These small, semi-lunar bits are important for reducing friction during leg movement.
Vocabulary lists containing meniscus
Pelé
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Chemistry - High School
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Chemistry - 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.
Herndon could be the top pass-catching option at TE following a knee injury for the on-the-rise Irv Smith Jr. Meniscus surgery has set Smith back for at least a few weeks, if not longer.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 1, 2021
I ended up getting an MRI on Wednesday and I thought that I had just torn my Meniscus.
From Time Magazine Archive
That�s why I just thought it was my Meniscus, but I guess it wasn�t, unfortunately.
From Time Magazine Archive
Meniscus, mē-nis′kus, n. a crescent or a new moon: a lens hollow on one side and bulging on the other.—adjs.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
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.
