vertebral column

noun
Origin of vertebral column
1815-25
Examples from the web for vertebral column
  • The orientation of the cervical vertebral column in unrestrained awake animals.
  • In severe cases of lateral curvature of the vertebral column the thorax becomes much distorted.
  • Thus continuous cores of mesoderm form the axes of the limb-buds and a continuous column of mesoderm the future vertebral column.
  • His umbilicus, that mute evidence of his ancestry, seems set directly upon the vertebral column.
British Dictionary definitions for vertebral column

vertebral column

noun
1.
another name for spinal column
vertebral column in Medicine

vertebral column n.
See spinal column.

vertebral column in Science
vertebral column
  (vûr'tə-brəl)   

The series of vertebrae extending from the base of the skull to the tip of the tail that forms the supporting axis of the body in vertebrate animals. In humans and tailless apes, the vertebral column ends with the coccyx (tailbone). It encloses and protects the spinal cord and provides a stable attachment for the muscles of the trunk. Also called backbone, spinal column, spine.