pelvis
Americannoun
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pelvises,
plural
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pelves
plural
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the basinlike cavity in the lower part of the trunk of many vertebrates, formed in humans by the innominate bones, sacrum, etc.
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the bones forming this cavity.
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the cavity of the kidney that receives the urine before it is passed into the ureter.
noun
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the large funnel-shaped structure at the lower end of the trunk of most vertebrates: in man it is formed by the hipbones and sacrum
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the bones that form this structure
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any anatomical cavity or structure shaped like a funnel or cup
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short for renal pelvis
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pelvises
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pelvis
1605–15; < New Latin; Latin: basin; akin to Greek pellís bowl
Explanation
Your pelvis is the series of bones at the base of the spine that support your legs. Remember that Elvis had a knack for moving his pelvis, and then you may more easily remember this body part! In humans, hip bones make up either side of the pelvis, with the sacrum and coccyx bones at the back. This bony pelvis makes it possible for us to walk upright with jointed legs, and it also forms a protective case for the internal organs that sit low in the body. In Latin, pelvis means "basin," from the Greek pelike, "goblet or bowl."
Vocabulary lists containing pelvis
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:
It was only after Enlli had further tests when a scan showed a cyst in her pelvis that the teenager from Caernarfon, Gwynedd, was given the devastating news she had ovarian cancer.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
The sacrum is a group of vertebrae connected to the pelvis and forms part of the animal's lower spine.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
Her pelvis is better, but she has been told she will never have full movement in her wrist.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Scientists recovered parts of the dinosaur's spine, including more than 30 vertebrae from the neck, back, and tail, along with several ribs and part of the pelvis.
From Science Daily ● May 12, 2026
For these past days—how many?—it has felt as though the hunger were a hand inside him, thrusting around in the cavity of his chest, reaching up to his shoulder blades, then down into his pelvis.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
With all this research out there showing how gestation seems to be limited primarily by maternal metabolism, why this notion that we’re compromised by our pelves?
From Scientific American ● Sep. 5, 2012
We can measure the pelves, but the size of the child's head is not satisfactorily measurable.
From Essays In Pastoral Medicine by Austin ?Malley
There are altars made of their skulls, and chandeliers made of their thigh bones; frescoes of their spines; mosaics of their teeth and dried muscles; cozy corners of their femurs and pelves and tibiae.
From Europe Revised by Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury) Cobb
Ellis speaks of female twins, born in Millville, Tenn., and exhibited in New York in 1868, who were joined at the pelves in a longitudinal axis.
From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Walter L. (Walter Lytle) Pyle
There are very many varieties of deformed pelves, but the same rules apply to them as to those already mentioned, except that the caesarean section is oftener indicated.
From Essays In Pastoral Medicine by Austin ?Malley
The researchers tested samples of soil around the pelvises of remains of 19 monks and 25 locals.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2022
Not all parasitologists are sold that the structures pocketing the friars’ pelvises are medieval worm eggs, however.
From Science Magazine ● Aug. 18, 2022
It was a risky gambit for the burgeoning pop star, who released her disco-kissed “Future Nostalgia” at a time when bumping pelvises in a packed nightclub was actually forbidden.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 1, 2022
If the methylation pattern suggested Neanderthals grew big pelvises — which the study does — the large flare in their upper hips could allow you to conclude the pattern is correct.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 19, 2019
Thirty-three Delta females, long-headed, sandy, with narrow pelvises, and all within 20 millimetres of 1 metre 69 centimetres tall, were cutting screws.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
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.
