turbinate

American  

[tur-buh-nit, -neyt] / ˈtɜr bə nɪt, -ˌneɪt /

adjective

1. Also turbinated. having the shape of an inverted cone; scroll-like; whorled; spiraled.

2. Anatomy. of or relating to certain scroll-like, spongy bones of the nasal passages in humans and other vertebrates.

3. inversely conical.

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noun

1. a turbinate shell.

2. Also called nasal concha.  Anatomy. a turbinate bone.

turbinate British  

/ ˈtɜːbɪnəl, -ˌneɪt, ˈtɜːbɪnɪt /

adjective

1. anatomy of or relating to any of the thin scroll-shaped bones situated on the walls of the nasal passages

2. shaped like a spiral or scroll

3. (esp of the shells of certain molluscs) shaped like an inverted cone

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noun

1. Also called: nasal concha.  a turbinate bone

2. a turbinate shell

Other Word Forms

• nonturbinate adjective
• nonturbinated adjective
• turbination noun

Etymology

Origin of turbinate

1655–65; < Latin turbinātus shaped like a top, equivalent to turbin- (stem of turbō a top; see turbine) + -ātus -ate ¹

Example Sentences

Researchers also identified signs of a structure known as a respiratory turbinate inside the nose of Triceratops.

From Science Daily • Feb. 22, 2026

Core regular, turbinate, closed, meeting the eye; Seeds numerous, long; Flesh white, firm, breaking, sub-acid; Fit only for the kitchen; A long keeper; March and April; often subject to Bitter-rot.

From American Pomology Apples by Warder, J. A.

Stipe long, erect, tapering upward, yellow-brown to reddish-brown, expanding at the base into a small hypothallus; the columella central, white, turbinate, or discoid turbinate.

From The Myxomycetes of the Miami Valley, Ohio by Morgan, A. P. (Andrew Price)

Sporangium obovoid to turbinate, olive-yellow to olive-brown in color, stipitate; the wall densely granulose within, externally smooth and shining, the upper part soon disappearing, leaving a funnel-shaped persistent base.

From The Myxomycetes of the Miami Valley, Ohio by Morgan, A. P. (Andrew Price)

Columella prominent, subcentral, globose, obovoid, or turbinate; the threads of the capillitium radiating in all directions to the wall of the sporangium.

From The Myxomycetes of the Miami Valley, Ohio by Morgan, A. P. (Andrew Price)