Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The hindmost segment or division of the sternum, corresponding to the xiphoid appendage or ensiform cartilage of man.
  • noun The xiphiplastron of a turtle. See second cut under Chelonia.

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

  • noun The posterior segment, or extremity, of the sternum; -- sometimes called metasternum, ensiform cartilage, ensiform process, or xiphoid process.
  • noun The xiphiplastron.

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

  • noun The xiphoid process, a small cartilaginous extension to the lower part of the sternum, usually ossified in the adult human.

Etymologies

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

[Greek xiphos, sword + sternum.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Ancient Greek ξίφος (xiphos, "sword") + English -i- (in place of the etymologically consistent -o-) + English sternum

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Examples

  • There is a pre-omosternum (o. st.) and a post-omosternum, sometimes termed a xiphisternum (x.).

    Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata 1906

  • I immediately thought of pangolins on reading the news about the Tube-lipped nectar bat Anoura fistulata: the pangolin tongue 'roots' on the xiphisternum, a rod-like cartilaginous extension of the breastbone located on the ventral surface of the abdomen.

    Andean Bats 2006

  • The sternum consists of segments, the sternebrae (st.); anteriorly there is a bony manubrium (mb.), posteriorly a thin cartilaginous plate, the xiphisternum (xi.).

    Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata 1906

  • The xiphisternum will probably be cut in this operation.

    Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata 1906

  • Cut away xiphisternum, and then cut through clavicles and coracoids on either side, and remove ventral part of shoulder girdle, to expose the heart.

    Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata 1906

  • Dog − Following premedication, patient administered with general anesthetic, and restrained on its back − An area from xiphisternum to pelvis is shaved and surgically prepped − Sterile drapes are applied − In cat, incision is made approx. half-way between the umbilicus and the pelvis − In dog, incision is made slightly more cranially - beginning at the umbilicus and extending caudally − Incised: skin, subQ tissue, peritoneum −

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows janny0759 2010

  • You're a cryogenic heart attack {encased in flame} and laced with memory's sweetest secret name spoken and winding icily down the same backbone that you freeze with a fireburn hum; to feel you breathe upon my xiphisternum is like a dream from heaven above

    Popular in the last 8 hours 2009

  • You're a cryogenic heart attack {encased in flame} and laced with memory's sweetest secret name spoken and winding icily down the same backbone that you freeze with a fireburn hum; to feel you breathe upon my xiphisternum is like a dream from heaven above

    Popular in the last 8 hours 2009

  • You're a cryogenic heart attack {encased in flame} and laced with memory's sweetest secret name spoken and winding icily down the same backbone that you freeze with a fireburn hum; to feel you breathe upon my xiphisternum is like a dream from heaven above

    Popular in the last 8 hours 2009

  • You're a cryogenic heart attack {encased in flame} and laced with memory's sweetest secret name spoken and winding icily down the same backbone that you freeze with a fireburn hum; to feel you breathe upon my xiphisternum is like a dream from heaven above This regular news article promises to make you giggle, chortle, and laugh your ass off.

    Popular in the last 8 hours 2009

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