FOSSA (fossae)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: fossae   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Fossa mean? 

• FOSSA (noun)
  The noun FOSSA has 3 senses:

1. a concavity in a surface (especially an anatomical depression)

2. monotypic genus of Madagascar civets closely related to palm civets

3. largest carnivore of Madagascar; intermediate in some respects between cats and civets

  Familiarity information: FOSSA used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FOSSA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A concavity in a surface (especially an anatomical depression)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Synonyms:

fossa; pit

Hypernyms ("fossa" is a kind of...):

bodily cavity; cavity; cavum ((anatomy) a natural hollow or sinus within the body)

concave shape; concavity; incurvation; incurvature (a shape that curves or bends inward)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fossa"):

glenoid cavity; glenoid fossa (the concavity in the head of the scapula that receives the head of the humerus to form the shoulder joint)

glenoid fossa; mandibular fossa (a deep concavity in the temporal bone at the root of the zygomatic arch that receives the condyle of the mandible)

epigastric fossa; pit of the stomach (a slight depression in the midline just below the sternum (where a blow can affect the solar plexus))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Monotypic genus of Madagascar civets closely related to palm civets

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

Fossa; genus Fossa

Hypernyms ("Fossa" is a kind of...):

mammal genus (a genus of mammals)

Meronyms (members of "Fossa"):

fanaloka; Fossa fossa (civet of Madagascar)

Holonyms ("Fossa" is a member of...):

family Viverridae; family Viverrinae; Viverridae; Viverrinae (genets; civets; mongooses)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Largest carnivore of Madagascar; intermediate in some respects between cats and civets

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

Cryptoprocta ferox; fossa; fossa cat

Hypernyms ("fossa" is a kind of...):

viverrine; viverrine mammal (small cat-like predatory mammals of warmer parts of the Old World)

 Context examples 

A groove or cleft on the surface of the gallbladder extending from the right portal vein to the gallbladder fossa.

(Fissure of the Gallbladder, NCI Thesaurus)

A fusiform fossa on the lateral sides of the larynx between the inferior and superior vocal cords.

(Laryngeal Ventricle, NCI Thesaurus)

The anterior border of the tonsillar fossa.

(Anterior Tonsillar Pillar, NCI Thesaurus)

Representative examples include posterior fossa astrocytoma, optic pathway glioma, medulloblastoma, ependymoma, and craniopharyngioma.

(Childhood Central Nervous System Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus)

A meningioma that affects the anterior cranial fossa.

(Anterior Cranial Fossa Meningioma, NCI Thesaurus)

A meningioma that affects the middle cranial fossa.

(Middle Cranial Fossa Meningioma, NCI Thesaurus)

Due to its location in the sella turcica, expansion of the tumor mass can impinge on the optic chiasm or involve the temporal lobe, third ventricle and posterior fossa.

(Pituitary Gland Adenoma, NCI Thesaurus)

It forms the posterior part of the hard palate and the lateral wall of the nasal fossa and helps to form the floor of the orbit as well as several adjoining parts.

(Palatine Bone, NCI Thesaurus)

Pea-sized endocrine gland located at the base of the brain in the pituitary fossa.

(Pituitary gland, NCI Thesaurus)

One of the four muscles comprising the rotator cuff that is triangular in shape and extends from the infraspinatus fossa of the scapula to the greater tubercle of the humerus.

(Infraspinatus, NCI Thesaurus)