spina
Americannoun
plural
spinaeEtymology
Origin of spina
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin spīna thorn, backbone; see spine
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.
Her son, who is referred to as J.M. in the complaint, is nonverbal and autistic and has spina bifida and hydrocephalus.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
Memoirs like Riva Lehrer’s Golem Girl, about spina bifida, and Jami Lin Nakamura’s The Night Parade, about mental illness, use monsters and monstrosity to discuss disability.
From Slate • Oct. 28, 2024
The 21-year-old was born with spina bifida - a spinal defect - and hydrocephalus, which is a neurological disorder that causes water to gather around her brain.
From BBC • Oct. 9, 2024
Cases of spina bifida dropped 31% and anencephaly declined by 16% after the fortification mandate, according to a federal study cited in the journal Teratology.
From Seattle Times • May 15, 2024
Acute Spinal Meningitis.—The spinal membranes may become implicated by direct spread in cases of acute intra-cranial lepto-meningitis, or they may be infected from without—for example, in gun-shot injuries or in cases of spina bifida.
From Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. by Miles, Alexander
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.
