Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, resembling, or bearing a hoof, nail, or claw.
  • adjective Of or relating to fingernails or toenails.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An ungual phalanx or claw.
  • Of, pertaining to, shaped like, or bearing a nail, claw, or hoof; unguicular; ungular.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to a nail, claw, talon, or hoof, or resembling one.
  • adjective Having a nail, claw, or hoof attached; -- said of certain bones of the feet.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective biology Pertaining to or resembling a creature's nail, claw or hoof; unguinal.
  • noun A modified toe bone, typically ending in a hoof or claw

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of or relating to a nail or claw or hoof

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin unguis, nail; see unguis.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin unguis 'nail, claw, hoof'

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Examples

  • This is called the ungual crest and helps anchor the keratinous covering of the claw onto the ungual: it's present in some sloths and anteaters too, and outside of xenarthrans is seen in cats.

    ScienceBlogs Channel : Life Science 2008

  • [Footnote A: The epithet 'ungual' is added by Chauveau to distinguish these arteries from the properly so-called plantar arteries -- the terminal divisions of the posterior tibial artery.]

    Diseases of the Horse's Foot Harry Caulton Reeks

  • Lift part of the nail, that covering the abscess, but leave the part which protects the ungual phalanx and assists healing.

    Chapter 4 1989

  • —In the second, third, fourth, and fifth toes the phalanges of the first row articulate behind with the metatarsal bones, and in front with the second phalanges, which in their turn articulate with the first and third: the ungual phalanges articulate with the second.

    II. Osteology. 6d. 3. The Phalanges of the Foot 1918

  • In the ungual phalanges the centers for the bodies appear at the distal extremities of the phalanges, instead of at the middle of the bodies, as in the other phalanges.

    II. Osteology. 6b. 3. The Phalanges of the Hand 1918

  • The ungual phalanges are convex on their dorsal and flat on their volar surfaces; they are recognized by their small size, and by a roughened, elevated surface of a horseshoe form on the volar surface of the distal extremity of each which serves to support the sensitive pulp of the finger.

    II. Osteology. 6b. 3. The Phalanges of the Hand 1918

  • Moreover, of all the bones of the hand, the ungual phalanges are the first to ossify.

    II. Osteology. 6b. 3. The Phalanges of the Hand 1918

  • The ungual phalanges, in form, resemble those of the fingers; but they are smaller and are flattened from above downward; each presents a broad base for articulation with the corresponding bone of the second row, and an expanded distal extremity for the support of the nail and end of the toe.

    II. Osteology. 6d. 3. The Phalanges of the Foot 1918

  • —In the four fingers the phalanges of the first row articulate with those of the second row and with the metacarpals; the phalanges of the second row with those of the first and third rows, and the ungual phalanges with those of the second row.

    II. Osteology. 6b. 3. The Phalanges of the Hand 1918

  • In the thumb, which has only two phalanges, the first phalanx articulates by its proximal extremity with the metacarpal bone and by its distal with the ungual phalanx.

    II. Osteology. 6b. 3. The Phalanges of the Hand 1918

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