Malleus definition

mălē-əs

Words form:

Frequency:

The hammer-shaped bone that is the outermost of the three small bones in the mammalian middle ear.

noun

The largest and outermost of the three small bones in the middle ear of mammals, shaped somewhat like a hammer.

noun

The hammer-shaped bone that is the outermost of the three small bones in the mammalian middle ear.

noun

The hammer-shaped bone that is the largest and outermost of the three small bones (ossicles) in the middle ear.

(anatomy) The small hammer-shaped bone of the middle ear.

A fracture of the malleus handle is a rare traumatic middle ear lesion.

noun

(ichthyology) The tripus (ossicle in cypriniform fishes).

noun

(zoology) One of the paired calcareous structures within the mastax of rotifers.

noun

Other Word Forms

Singular:

malleus

Plural:

mallei

Latin hammer melə- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From Latin malleus (“hammer, mallet")

From Wiktionary