spinal column

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

• noun The series of articulated vertebrae, separated by intervertebral disks and held together by muscles and tendons, that extends from the cranium to the coccyx or the end of the tail, encasing the spinal cord and forming the central support of the body; the spine.

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

• noun anatomy The series of vertebrae, separated by disks, that extends from the cranium to the coccyx, which encloses and protects the spinal cord.

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

• noun the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord