Definitions

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

  • noun The projection of skin-covered cartilage in front of the meatus of the external ear.
  • noun Any of the hairs growing at the entrance to the meatus of the external ear.

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

  • noun anatomy The small piece of thick cartilage of the external ear that is immediately in front of the ear canal.

Etymologies

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

[New Latin, from Greek tragos, goat, hairy part of the ear.]

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Examples

  • The fold of skin in front of the opening of the ear the tragus is an acupressure point for feeling full.

    The Flex Diet M.D. James Beckerman 2011

  • The fold of skin in front of the opening of the ear the tragus is an acupressure point for feeling full.

    The Flex Diet M.D. James Beckerman 2011

  • The flap called the tragus protects of the auditory meatus, or earhole.

    Archive 2009-06-01 James Gurney 2009

  • The flap called the tragus protects of the auditory meatus, or earhole.

    The Anatomy of the Ear James Gurney 2009

  • The flap called the tragus protects of the auditory meatus, or earhole.

    The Anatomy of the Ear James Gurney 2009

  • It can also be used for other piercings, such as tragus or conchs, just to name a few.

    We Blog A Lot 2008

  • Article Source: ArticlesBase. com – Buying Bulk Jewellery tragus bump.?

    Mint Titanium | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • I originally had a titanium barbell, which cost a mint but healed extremely well. i have since had it professionally changed to a surgical steel BCR .. which probably should have been titanium. anyway, i have the typical “tragus bump”, which is annoying me to no end.

    Mint Titanium | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • Hey, if you're not able to get the live goat, you could have people draw the tragus of the person next to them...

    Creature Design Workshop Update James Gurney 2009

  • Man, HOW could I have forgotten Dennis -- the source of the whole accurate ear/tragus/Darwin's tubercle/Liam Clancy's advice to Bob Dylan train of thought!

    The Waterhouse Expedition: Border Problems James Gurney 2009

Comments

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  • that little flap of cartilage at the front of the opening of your ear

    March 1, 2007

  • cool. and cause of this word, I found meatus!

    March 1, 2007

  • Eeew. Meatus. Doesn't it sound like it's supposed to be a big hunk of steak?

    March 1, 2007

  • sounds like a meat foetus.

    If God didn't want us to eat fetuses, why are they made out of meat?

    March 1, 2007

  • Blecch! An even more ghastly image!

    March 1, 2007

  • Gross, y'all!

    Meatus just made the hate list.

    March 1, 2007

  • Ditto, trivet.

    March 1, 2007

  • Wow. This is a weird word that doesn't sound at all like its meaning. Meatus is even weirder and sounds even less like its meaning!

    March 1, 2007

  • The etymology is even more bizarre:

    New Latin, from Greek tragos, goat, hairy part of the ear.

    March 1, 2007

  • ?!?!

    March 1, 2007

  • ?!?! too! How they got from goat to hairy part of the ear, I don't want to know.

    March 1, 2007

  • this word is tragic

    March 2, 2007

  • Um, goats have very hairy ears. People with hairy ears look like goats. Seems like a pretty straight forward explanation.

    March 2, 2007

  • Joke, seanahan. Joke. :-)

    March 2, 2007

  • But this doesn't mean "hairy ear," and it doesn't refer only to people with hairy ears. Whether people with hairy ears look like goats or not is irrelevant. The word refers to a part outside your ear that everyone has, even people without hairy traguses (tragi?). Why that has anything to do with goats is beyond me. But very interesting, so thanks for posting the etymology. I say again... ?!?!

    March 2, 2007

  • Odd, sionnach, that it derives from the same root as tragic. Makes a Wordie wonder.... ;-)

    March 2, 2007

  • Oh dear, now I will be compelled to go about observing tragi to see if they are hairy. A little scientific survey. ;-)

    July 16, 2007

  • *glad slumry won't be checking out my ears any time soon, since we live on opposite sides of the country* ;-)

    July 16, 2007

  • Yea, you should be safe. ;-)

    July 16, 2007

  • Safe unless I get a hankering for cod wrap and stop by Silly's at the same time you do! Look for the woman staring surreptitiously at ears.

    Come to think of it, staring surreptitiously is probably akin to jumbo shrimp.

    July 16, 2007

  • I think you may be right. :-)

    July 16, 2007

  • More tragicomedy in the news.

    August 3, 2010

  • Even Dilbert gets into the action. A shame Scott couldn't work meatus in as well.

    March 18, 2011