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metatarsal

American

[met-uh-tahr-suhl] / ˌmɛt əˈtɑr səl /

adjective

of or relating to the metatarsus, the part of the foot that includes the bones between the ankle and toes.

noun

a bone in the metatarsus.

metatarsal British

/ ˌmɛtəˈtɑːsəl /

adjective

of or relating to the metatarsus

"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

noun

any bone of the metatarsus

"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

metatarsal Scientific

/ mĕt′ə-tär′səl /

Any of the bones of the feet in humans or the back feet in animals that are located between the tarsal bones and the phalanges.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of metatarsal

First recorded in 1730–40; meta- + tarsal

Vocabulary lists containing metatarsal

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:

metatarsal

For each species, the team used existing estimates of body weight along with measurements of the fourth metatarsal.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 23, 2026

He flexes his metatarsal bones to indicate where he wants a subordinate to sit.

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2025

A joint that is becoming cricket's version of David Beckham's metatarsal and will be cut open, hopefully fixed and sealed back up by the end of next week.

From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2023

The metatarsal bone in his foot was removed when an infection started to develop.

From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2023

Not even a metatarsal of any family skeleton interested Bull Meecham if the family was not his own.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023