tailbone

[teyl-bohn] /ˈteɪlˌboʊn/
noun, Anatomy
1.
the coccyx.
Origin
1540-50; tail1 + bone
Examples from the web for tailbone
  • Osborn based this supposition on what he thought was a change in tailbone anatomy about halfway down the organ's length.
  • He was experiencing some dizziness following the play, but those symptoms cleared up and his tailbone injury lasted longer.
  • Helps reduce the lower back pain, specially in the tailbone.
  • She continues to complain of a burning pain at her tailbone and a heavy feeling in her legs.
  • Body length was measured from the hairless patch on the nose along the body contour to the tip of the tailbone.
  • The coccyx, or tailbone, has one vertebrae and nerve root.
tailbone in Medicine

tailbone tail·bone (tāl'bōn')
n.
See coccyx.

tailbone in Science
tailbone
  (tāl'bōn')   
See coccyx.
Slang definitions & phrases for tailbone

tailbone

noun phrase

The buttocks; ass (1940s+)


Encyclopedia Article for tailbone

coccyx

curved, semiflexible lower end of the backbone (vertebral column) in apes and humans, representing a vestigial tail. It is composed of three to five successively smaller caudal (coccygeal) vertebrae. The first is a relatively well-defined vertebra and connects with the sacrum; the last is represented by a small nodule of bone. The spinal cord ends above the coccyx. In early adulthood the coccygeal vertebrae fuse with each other; in later life the coccyx may fuse with the sacrum. A corresponding structure in other vertebrates, such as birds, may also be called a coccyx.

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