vertebra

American  

[vur-tuh-bruh] / ˈvɜr tə brə /

noun

Anatomy, Zoology.

• vertebrae,
  plural
• vertebras
  plural

1. any of the bones or segments composing the spinal column, consisting typically of a cylindrical body and an arch with various processes, and forming a foramen, or opening, through which the spinal cord passes.

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vertebra British  

/ ˈvɜːtɪbrə /

noun

1. one of the bony segments of the spinal column

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vertebra Scientific  

/ vûr′tə-brə /

• vertebrae
  plural

1. Any of the bones that make up the vertebral column. Each vertebra contains an arched, hollow section through which the spinal cord passes. In humans, the vertebrae are divided into cervical, thoracic, and lumbar sections, and the sacrum and coccyx are both made up of a series of fused vertebrae. The vertebrae are separated by cartilaginous intervertebral disks.

2. See more at skeleton

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• vertebral
  adjective
• vertebrally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vertebrae
  plural
• vertebras
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vertebra

1570–80; < Latin: (spinal) joint, equivalent to verte ( re ) to turn ( see verse) + -bra noun suffix

Explanation

A vertebra is one of the little bones in your spinal column; there are vertebrae up and down your back. Your whole body is full of bones, and one of those types of bones are vertebrae: the bones in your back. These bones are very important because they protect your spinal column, which allows your brain to communicate with the rest of your body. A serious back injury could damage a vertebra, resulting in pain or spinal damage. If you bend over and then straighten up slowly, you can feel yourself rising one vertebra at a time.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vertebra vertebrae vertebras

He posted on social media about various health ailments, including irritable bowel syndrome and spondylolisthesis, a condition caused by a vertebra slipping out of place.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

McKellen suffered a chipped vertebra and fractured wrist, but he says the doctors didn’t find anything else wrong with him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026

Another nest was found inside a hutia vertebra, in the space that once housed the spinal cord.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2026

"I've been rehabbing a complicated compound fracture in my wrist and a fractured L1 vertebra in my spine," Brockhoff said on Instagram.

From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026

My chin tilts up, my shoulders roll back, a vertebra pops in my spine as my posture straightens.

From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day

That tower is extraordinary, with its deep-set curved windows arrayed like a supple column of vertebrae.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

The vertebrae line up to create a series of ball-and-socket joints running from head to tail.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026

On a recent afternoon, volunteers bustled around the museum wheeling carts of jaws and vertebrae carefully organized by species.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026

"The cervical vertebrae of Kank show special structures for muscle attachment and the protection of neck blood vessels, features particularly important in modern birds with complex neck movements, such as herons," says Dr. Motta.

From Science Daily ● May 29, 2026

His broken ribs and vertebrae would likely heal without surgery.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

Is it his many coloured soul that "magnetises our poor vertebras," in Verlaine's phrase, and not the mere skill of his fingers?

From Plays, Acting and Music A Book Of Theory by Arthur Symons

A little aft of “midships” a pyramidal lump of fatty substance projected several feet above the line of the vertebras.

From The Ocean Waifs A Story of Adventure on Land and Sea by Mayne Reid

There are six great rivers in Spain,—the arteries which run between the seven mountain chains, the vertebras of the geological skeleton. 

From A Supplementary Chapter to the Bible in Spain by Thomas James Wise

These vertebras are piled up one upon the other; for God has made our bodies upright; our faces, are lifted upwards, and our eyes look straight before us.

From Twilight and Dawn Simple Talks on the Six Days of Creation by Caroline Pridham

They consist of one of the bones of the cranium, fifteen or twenty vertebras, two entire ribs, and part of a third, one thigh bone, two bones of the leg, &c.

From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 13, No. 354, January 31, 1829 by Various