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View synonyms for petrous

petrous

[pe-truhs, pee-]

adjective

  1. Anatomy.,  noting or pertaining to the hard dense portion of the temporal bone, containing the internal auditory organs; petrosal.

  2. like stone, especially in hardness; stony; rocky.



petrous

/ ˈpiː-, ˈpɛtrəs /

adjective

  1. anatomy denoting the dense part of the temporal bone that surrounds the inner ear

  2. rare,  like rock or stone

“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
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Other Word Forms

  • superpetrous adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of petrous1

1350–1400; Middle English (< Middle French petros ) < Latin petrōsus rocky. See petr-, -ous
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Word History and Origins

Origin of petrous1

C16: from Latin petrōsus full of rocks
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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.

Researchers targeted DNA stored in the petrous, a very dense bone that envelopes the inner ear.

Read more on New York Times

The researchers located ancient DNA in their petrous bones—dense inner ear bones that preserve genetic material particularly well—but only managed to successfully retrieve a complete genome from the man.

Read more on Science Magazine

In recent years, however, scientists have learned that the petrous bone of the inner ear contains an unusually high quantity of DNA, allowing them to locate usable genetic material even in otherwise degraded skeletons.

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Some laboratories have used microCT scanning, both to preserve data from petrous bone, and to guide their drilling to minimize destruction of the specimen11.

Read more on Nature

Researchers used the teeth and petrous bones of the remains to analyze their DNA.

Read more on Fox News

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