Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The middle part of the human foot that forms the instep and includes the five bones between the toes and the ankle.
- noun The corresponding part of the hind foot in quadrupeds or of the foot in birds.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The middle segment of the three of which the foot, or third division of the hind limb, consists, considered with special reference to its bony structure.
- noun In entomology: The first one of the joints of the tarsus, when it is large or otherwise distinguished from the rest, which are then called collectively the dactylus.
- noun With some authors, the hind foot; the entire tarsus of each hind leg; each of the third pair of tarsi.
- noun The sixth joint of a spider's leg, being the first of the two which form the foot.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Anat.) That part of the skeleton of the hind or lower limb between the tarsus and phalanges; metatarse. It consists, in the human foot, of five bones. See
Illustration in Appendix.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The part of the foot between the toes and the ankle, especially its five bones.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the skeleton of the human foot between the toes and the tarsus; the corresponding part of the foot in birds or of the hind foot in quadrupeds
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Feet and toes, the glandular system, the gastro-abdominal system, the lymphatic system, the pituitary gland, the synovial fluids, the tarsus and metatarsus bones, the thalamus, mucus, genes.
Astrology for Enlightenment Michelle Karén 2008
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If the proximal end of the metatarsus were broken off (and this bit is the giveaway, as it of course shows the presence of tarsals charactestically mammalian in form and number), I suspect that even some experienced zoologists would be fooled into misidentifying a jerboa metatarsus as an avian one.
Archive 2006-03-01 Darren Naish 2006
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This is because the size of the foot is an essential characteristic of the species, for no animal has the tarsus and metatarsus combined so small as man; hence the uprightness of his gait: he is a plantigrade.
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The hock is said to be curbed when the normal appearance, viewed from the side, is that of bulging posteriorly at any point between the summit of the calcaneum and the upper third of the metatarsus.
Lameness of the Horse Veterinary Practitioners' Series, No. 1 John Victor Lacroix
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It should be added that for 'explosive' features to reach their strongest development, it is necessary that the bone affected should lie near the surface of the body; hence the most characteristic explosive wounds were met with in the forearm or leg, over the metacarpus or metatarsus, or in the arm.
Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900 Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small Calibre George Henry Makins
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Feet black, webbed, the membrane being deeply notched, great toe articulated to the metatarsus.
Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society - Vol. 3 Zoology Various
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The external plantar nerve, passing along the inner side of the corresponding artery, sends branches to supply the outer toe and adjacent side of the next, and then passes, with the artery, between the deep common flexor tendon and the metatarsus, to be distributed to the deep plantar muscles.
Surgical Anatomy Joseph Maclise
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-- The theca through which the deep digital flexor (perforans) plays in the tarsal region, begins about three inches above the inner tibial malleolus and extends about one-fourth of the way down the metatarsus.
Lameness of the Horse Veterinary Practitioners' Series, No. 1 John Victor Lacroix
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The thigh bone corresponds to the humerus; the tibia and fibula to the ulna and radius; the ankle to the wrist; and the metatarsus and the phalanges of the foot, to the metacarpus and the phalanges of the hand.
A Practical Physiology Albert F. Blaisdell
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The injuries to the _metatarsus_ corresponded so nearly to those already spoken of in the case of the metacarpus that they need no further mention.
Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900 Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small Calibre George Henry Makins
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