Definitions

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

  • noun The mastoid process.
  • adjective Of or relating to the mastoid process.
  • adjective Shaped like a breast or nipple.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as pterotic.
  • Teat-like; shaped like a nipple: specifically applied in anatomy to a part or process of the temporal bone, from its shape in man. See below.
  • noun The mastoid part or process of the temporal bone: in adult man, a conical nipplelike bony prominence below and behind the orifice of the ear, to which the sternoclido-mastoid, trachelomastoid, digastric, and other muscles are attached, and which is grooved for the passage of the occipital artery.
  • noun A distinct bone of the skull of some of the lower vertebrates, regarded by Owen as homologous with the mammalian mastoid.

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

  • adjective Resembling the nipple or the breast; -- applied specifically to a process of the temporal bone behind the ear.
  • adjective Pertaining to, or in the region of, the mastoid process; mastoidal.

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

  • adjective Shaped like a breast or nipple.
  • adjective Of or relating to the mastoid process.
  • noun anatomy The mastoid process.

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

  • adjective relating to or resembling a nipple
  • noun process of the temporal bone behind the ear at the base of the skull
  • adjective of or relating to or in the region of the mastoid process

Etymologies

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

[New Latin mastoīdēs, nipple-like, mastoid (from its shape), from Greek mastoeidēs : mastos, breast + -oeidēs, -oid.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek μαστός (mastos, "breast")

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek μάσταξ (mastax, "jaws, what chews")

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Examples

  • The Auricular Branch (ramus auricularis) supplies the back of the concha and frequently gives off a branch, which enters the skull through the mastoid foramen and supplies the dura mater, the diploë, and the mastoid cells; this latter branch sometimes arises from the occipital artery, and is then known as the mastoid branch.

    VI. The Arteries. 3a. 2. The External Carotid Artery 1918

  • It is perforated by numerous foramina; one of these, of large size, situated near the posterior border, is termed the mastoid foramen; it transmits a vein to the transverse sinus and a small branch of the occipital artery to the dura mater.

    II. Osteology. 5a. 4. The Temporal Bone 1918

  • The mastoid is the small bone directly behind the ear.

    eHow - Health How To's 2010

  • And the sharpness of this cry is a shard of green glass that is spun long with razor thinness, and it enters those for whom it is calling just behind the left ear, lodging in the hollow between the mandible and mastoid, a reminder, a pact, and one that has been made with the scent of blood heavy in the air.

    Between Expectations Md Meghan Maclean Weir 2011

  • And the sharpness of this cry is a shard of green glass that is spun long with razor thinness, and it enters those for whom it is calling just behind the left ear, lodging in the hollow between the mandible and mastoid, a reminder, a pact, and one that has been made with the scent of blood heavy in the air.

    Between Expectations Md Meghan Maclean Weir 2011

  • This will cause flattening of the back of the head on the affected side, protrusion of the mastoid bone, and posterior positioning of the affected ear.

    The Beauty of Love Laura Posada 2010

  • He was an only child, irreversibly Italian in a WASP world, scarred by forceps and acne and a mastoid operation, so skinny he nearly disappeared behind his microphone.

    When Sinatra had the world on a string Louis Bayard 2010

  • He was an only child, irreversibly Italian in a WASP world, scarred by forceps and acne and a mastoid operation, so skinny he nearly disappeared behind his microphone.

    When Sinatra had the world on a string Louis Bayard 2010

  • It's about the size of an MP3 player and is connected to the mastoid bone behind the ear using a sensor cable, which sends electric pulses into the vestibular system.

    Dr. Michael J. Breus: Insomniacs: Rock Yourself to Sleep 2010

  • It's about the size of an MP3 player and is connected to the mastoid bone behind the ear using a sensor cable, which sends electric pulses into the vestibular system.

    Dr. Michael J. Breus: Insomniacs: Rock Yourself to Sleep 2010

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