spinal column

noun
1.
the series of vertebrae in a vertebrate animal forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord; spine; backbone.
Also called vertebral column.
Origin
1830-40
Examples from the web for spinal column
  • Finding pieces of the spinal column joined together eliminates guesswork over how they articulated in life.
  • All of her tiny ribs were positioned, as in life, along a sinuous spinal column.
  • Most of her tiny ribs were positioned, as in life, along a sinuous spinal column.
  • Carter had been diagnosed with spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal column.
  • He then used a cutting cautery to burn through the tissues that lie above the spinal column.
  • She did a spinal tap so she could get some fluid out of his spinal column to see if it was infected.
  • The denser central structures--heart, spinal column, and great vessels--look white.
  • The dyes illuminated a specific region where the back of the fish's brain meets the top of its spinal column.
  • People who believe that they're using an anaesthetic cream have reduced pain signalling in their spinal column.
  • Meningitis is a bacterial or viral infection that attacks the tissues that cover the brain and spinal column.
British Dictionary definitions for spinal column

spinal column

noun
1.
a series of contiguous or interconnecting bony or cartilaginous segments that surround and protect the spinal cord Also called spine, vertebral column, rachis Nontechnical name backbone
spinal column in Medicine

spinal column n.
The series of articulated vertebrae, separated by intervertebral disks and held together by muscles and tendons, that extends from the cranium to the coccyx, encasing the spinal cord and forming the supporting axis of the body. Also called backbone, rachis, spine, vertebral column.

spinal column in Science
spinal column
  (spī'nəl)   
See vertebral column.