Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Anatomy Either of a pair of bones of the human skull fusing in the midline and forming the upper jaw.
  • noun A homologous bone of the skull in other vertebrates.
  • noun Either of two laterally moving appendages situated behind the mandibles in insects and most other arthropods.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In anatomy and zoology: A jaw or jaw-bone; a maxillary bone; especially, a bone of the upper jaw, as distinguished from the mandible.
  • noun Specifically, the supramaxillary bone proper, as distinguished from the premaxillary or intermaxillary, which is often fused therewith in the higher vertebrates.
  • noun In entomology, as in insects and arachnidans, one of the second pair of gnathites; either one, right and left, of the second or lower pair of horizontal jaws, next behind or below the mandibles.
  • noun In Crustacea, the right or left one of either of the two pairs of gnathites which come next after the mandibles, between these and the maxillipeds. The maxillæ of a crustacean thus correspond to those of an insect, but there is an additional pair of them.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Now commonly used in this restricted sense., Now commonly used in this restricted sense. The bone of either the upper or the under jaw.
  • noun Now commonly used in this restricted sense. The bone, or principal bone, of the upper jaw, the bone of the lower jaw being the mandible.
  • noun (Zoöl.) One of the lower or outer jaws of arthropods.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Either of the two bones that together form the upper jaw.
  • noun Arachnid mouthpart

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the jaw in vertebrates that is fused to the cranium

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin, jawbone.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin maxilla ("jaw"), a diminutive of māla ("jaw").

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Examples

  • I'm going to say the small skull behind it is a raccoon skull minus the mandible, but its hard to tell from this angle as the maxilla is shortened due to the angle.

    What Is On My Desk? 2007

  • The TMJ is the joint between the upper jaw (called the maxilla) and the lower one (mandible) that purposely dislocates itself with every bite to increase your chewing force.

    You Being Beautiful Michael F. Roizen 2008

  • The TMJ is the joint between the upper jaw (called the maxilla) and the lower one (mandible) that purposely dislocates itself with every bite to increase your chewing force.

    You Being Beautiful Michael F. Roizen 2008

  • Hood: of the maxilla is the galena; q.v.: in Tingitidae the elevated portion of the prothorax, often covering the head.

    Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology John. B. Smith

  • Opposite the second molar tooth of the maxilla is a papilla, on the summit of which is the aperture of the parotid duct.

    XI. Splanchnology. 2a. The Mouth 1918

  • About 1 cm. in front of the hamulus and 1 cm. medial to the last molar tooth of the maxilla is the greater palatine foramen through which the descending palatine vessels and the anterior palatine nerve emerge.

    XII. Surface Anatomy and Surface Markings. 2. Surface Markings of Special Regions of the Head and Neck 1918

  • Bienvenu said Lowery's injuries included a fractured bone in his upper jaw, called the maxilla, along with fractured teeth and a concussion.

    CNN.com 2011

  • Bienvenu said Lowery's injuries included a fractured bone in his upper jaw, called the maxilla, along with fractured teeth and a concussion.

    SI.com 2011

  • Bienvenu said Lowery's injuries included a fractured bone in his upper jaw, called the maxilla, along with fractured teeth and a concussion.

    SI.com 2011

  • Researchers hypothesized that epidermal outgrowths on the upper maxilla of these male fish aka fish-staches may be a sexually selected characteristic.

    Carin Bondar: Excuse Me... I Think You've Got Something Stuck on Your Upper Lip Carin Bondar 2012

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