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

The name combines the Greek words limne, meaning lake, and spondylos, meaning vertebra, while ajimuensis refers to Ajimu.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 24, 2026

However, the fossil that led to the discovery of the new species was a recovered dorsal vertebra — a bone from the middle or upper back — which showed distinctive characteristics.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 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

Now and again we passed a leiter-wagon—the ordinary peasant’s cart—with its long, snake-like vertebra, calculated to suit the inequalities of the road.

From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker

Their remains show distinctive patterns of stress in the vertebrae along with strong limb bones capable of handling repeated physical strain across frozen terrain.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026

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

Fibrocartilage is tough and shock-absorbing, found in places like the discs between vertebrae.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 12, 2026

These injuries and complaints range from blisters to severe tendonitis, bursitis, slipped vertebrae, rotator cuff dysfunction, and stress fractures, particularly fractures of the ribs.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

Its peculiar characteristic is its extraordinary fragility— arising from the muscles being articulated quite through the vertebras.

From The Western World Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North and South America by William Henry Giles Kingston

These are the Rocky Mountains, the American Andes, the colossal vertebras of the continent!

From The Scalp Hunters by F.A. Stewart

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

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

The fish is called a Vertebrate animal, because it has a backbone, made up of numbers of separate bones called vertebras.

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