Definition of Meniscus

1. Noun. (anatomy) a disk of cartilage that serves as a cushion between the ends of bones that meet at a joint.

Exact synonyms: Semilunar Cartilage
Generic synonyms: Cartilage, Gristle
Category relationships: Anatomy, General Anatomy

2. Noun. (optics) a lens that is concave on one side and convex on the other.
Generic synonyms: Lens, Lens System, Lense
Category relationships: Optics

3. Noun. (physics) the curved upper surface of a nonturbulent liquid in a vertical tube.
Generic synonyms: Surface
Category relationships: Natural Philosophy, Physics

Definition of Meniscus

1. n. A crescent.

Definition of Meniscus

1. Noun. A crescent moon, or an object shaped like it. (defdate from 17th c.) ¹

2. Noun. (context: optics) A lens which is convex on one side and concave on the other, being crescent-shaped in cross-section. (defdate from 17th c.) ¹

3. Noun. The curved surface of liquids in tubes, whether concave or convex, caused by the surface tension of the liquid. (defdate from 19th c.) ¹

4. Noun. (anatomy) Either of two parts of the human knee that provide structural integrity to the knee when it undergoes tension and torsion. (defdate from 19th c.) ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Meniscus

1. a crescent-shaped body [n -CI or -CUSES] : MENISCAL [adj]

Medical Definition of Meniscus

1. Origin: NL, from Gr, dim. Of mhnh the moon. 1. A crescent. 2. A lens convex on one side and concave on the other. 3. An interarticular synovial cartilage or membrane; especially, one of the intervertebral synovial disks in some parts of the vertebral column of birds. Converging meniscus, Diverging meniscus. See Lens. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Meniscus

meninx primitiva
meninx tenuis
meninx vasculosa
meniscal
meniscate
meniscectomies
meniscectomy
menisci
meniscitis
meniscocyte
meniscofemoral ligaments
meniscoid
meniscopexy
meniscorrhaphy
meniscotome
meniscus (current term)
meniscus articularis
meniscus lateralis
meniscus lens
meniscus medialis
meniscus tactus
meniscuses
meniver
menkes kinky-hair syndrome
menkind
mennish

Literary usage of Meniscus

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Anatomy, Descriptive and Applied by Henry Gray (1913)
"The medial meniscus (meniscus medialis; internal semilunar fibrocartilage) is nearly semicircular in form, a little elongated from before backward, ..."

2. The Osmotic Pressure of Aqueous Solutions: Report on Investigations Made in by Harmon Northrop Morse (1914)
"The meniscus correction also is derived from the weight and length relations of short and long threads. So far the procedure is without change. ..."

3. A Treatise on Attractions, Laplace's Functions, and the Figure of the Earth by John Henry Pratt (1871)
"In the diagram let ' P be the point attracted, at first not on the meniscus but beyond it. GAc the meniscus, A its pole. Suppose the meniscus divided into ..."

4. Anatomy of the Human Body by Henry Gray (1918)
"Each meniscus covers approximately the peripheral two-thirds of the corresponding articular ... The medial meniscus (meniscus medialis; internal semilunar ..."

5. Journal of the American Chemical Society by American Chemical Society (1915)
"Even superficial observation shows at once that the meniscus in a very small ... The measurement of the height of the meniscus between its lowest point and ..."

6. The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language by William Dwight Whitney (1890)
"[<meniscus + -ate1.] Resembling the section of a meniscus: applied in botany to a cylindrical body bent into a semicircle. ..."

7. A Dictionary of Photography by Thomas Sutton, George Dawson (1867)
"DEEP meniscus. When the front surface of the achromatic meniscus is made very deep instead of being nearly flat, as in the cases just discussed, ..."

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