ossicle

American  

[os-i-kuhl] / ˈɒs ɪ kəl /

noun

1. a small bone.

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ossicle British  

/ ɒˈsɪkjʊlə, ˈɒsɪkəl /

noun

1. a small bone, esp one of those in the middle ear

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ossicle Scientific  

/ ŏs′ĭ-kəl /

1. A small bone, especially one of the three located in the middle ear (the incus, malleus, and stapes) that transmit sound vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear.

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Other Word Forms

• ossicular adjective
• ossiculate adjective

Etymology

Origin of ossicle

1570–80; < Latin ossiculum, equivalent to ossi- (combining form of os ) bone + -culum -cle ¹

Example Sentences

A humanized bone marrow ossicle xenotransplantation model enables improved engraftment of healthy and leukemic human hematopoietic cells.

From Nature • Jan. 23, 2018

Meng, J., Bi, S., Zheng, X. & Wang, X. Ear ossicle morphology of the Jurassic euharamiyidan Arboroharamiya and evolution of mammalian middle ear.

From Nature • Nov. 12, 2017

Sound vibrations are transmitted by the eardrum and ossicle bones to the inner ear, a bony and membranous structure lined with tiny hairs that connect to the brain's auditory nerve.

From Time Magazine Archive

In Colymbus the patella is reduced to a small ossicle, its function being taken by the greatly developed pyramidal processus tibialis anterior; in Podiceps and Hesperornis the patella itself is large and pyramidal.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various

The tuberosity of the heel-bone or calcaneum is directed towards the sole, and parallel with it and extending to about double its length is a greatly elongated sesamoid ossicle.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 10 "Echinoderma" to "Edward" by Various