mandible

[man-duh-buh l] /ˈmæn də bəl/
noun
1.
the bone of the lower jaw.
2.
  1. the lower part of the bill.
  2. mandibles, the upper and lower parts of the bill.
3.
(in arthropods) one of the first pair of mouthpart appendages, typically a jawlike biting organ, but styliform or setiform in piercing and sucking species.
Origin
1375-1425; late Middle English < Late Latin mandibula jaw, equivalent to mandi- (combining form of Latin mandere to chew) + -bula noun suffix of means
Examples from the web for mandible
  • These creatures seem to have led a similar arboreal life-style, but had no need for the powerful mandible or big display canines.
  • Gainst many an enemy mandible, welded by pheromone kinship.
  • Bill slightly downcurved, thicker at base with basal third of lower mandible blue-gray.
  • Thin, noticeably downcurved bill, blue-gray on the basal half lower mandible.
  • The mandible, the largest and strongest bone of the face, serves for the reception of the lower teeth.
  • It is situated in the floor of the mouth, within the curve of the body of the mandible.
  • The nerve descends almost vertically to a point corresponding with the angle of the mandible.
  • The edges of the lower mandible are serrated with teeth much more prominent, coarser, and sharper than in the duck.
  • This is where the lower mandible is above the upper mandible.
British Dictionary definitions for mandible

mandible

/ˈmændɪbəl/
noun
1.
the lower jawbone in vertebrates See jaw (sense 1)
2.
either of a pair of mouthparts in insects and other arthropods that are usually used for biting and crushing food
3.
(ornithol) either the upper or the lower part of the bill, esp the lower part
Derived Forms
mandibular (mænˈdɪbjʊlə) adjective
mandibulate (mænˈdɪbjʊlɪt; -ˌleɪt) noun, adjective
Word Origin
C16: via Old French from Late Latin mandibula jaw, from mandere to chew
Word Origin and History for mandible
n.

late 14c., "jaw, jawbone," from Middle French mandible and directly from Late Latin mandibula "jaw," from Latin mandere "to chew," from PIE root *mendh- "to chew" (cf. Greek mastax "the mouth, that with which one chews; morsel, that which is chewed," masasthai "to chew," mastikhan "to gnash the teeth"). Of insect mouth parts from 1826.

mandible in Medicine

mandible man·di·ble (mān'də-bəl)
n.
A U-shaped bone forming the lower jaw, articulating with the temporal bone on either side. Also called submaxilla.

man·dib'u·lar (-dĭb'yə-lər) adj.
mandible in Science
mandible
  (mān'də-bəl)   

  1. The lower part of the jaw in vertebrate animals. See more at skeleton.

  2. One of the pincerlike mouthparts of insects and other arthropods.