MASTOID

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mastoid mean? 

• MASTOID (noun)
  The noun MASTOID has 1 sense:

1. process of the temporal bone behind the ear at the base of the skull

  Familiarity information: MASTOID used as a noun is very rare.

• MASTOID (adjective)
  The adjective MASTOID has 2 senses:

1. of or relating to or in the region of the mastoid process

2. relating to or resembling a nipple

  Familiarity information: MASTOID used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MASTOID (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Process of the temporal bone behind the ear at the base of the skull

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

mastoid; mastoid bone; mastoid process; mastoidal

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

appendage; outgrowth; process (a natural prolongation or projection from a part of an organism either animal or plant)

Meronyms (parts of "mastoid"):

mastoidale (the craniometric point at the lowest point of the mastoid process)

Holonyms ("mastoid" is a part of...):

os temporale; temporal bone (a thick bone forming the side of the human cranium and encasing the inner ear)

Derivation:

mastoid (of or relating to or in the region of the mastoid process)

• MASTOID (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to or in the region of the mastoid process

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

mastoid (process of the temporal bone behind the ear at the base of the skull)

Derivation:

mastoid (process of the temporal bone behind the ear at the base of the skull)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Relating to or resembling a nipple

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

mastoid; mastoidal

Pertainym:

nipple (the small projection of a mammary gland)

 Context examples 

A pathologic process characterized by the proliferation of keratinizing squamous epithelium resulting in the accumulation of keratin and cells in the middle ear and/or mastoid.

(Cholesteatoma, NCI Thesaurus)

A non-neoplastic keratinizing mass with stratified squamous epithelium, frequently occurring in the meninges, central nervous system, bones of the skull, and most commonly in the middle ear and mastoid region.

(Cholesteatoma, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

An artery arising from the external carotid artery that branches into the auricular, arteria princeps cervicis, meningeal, muscular, and sterno-mastoid arteries.

(Occipital Artery, NCI Thesaurus)

A muscle originating from the transverse processes of the upper thoracic vertebrae and the articular processes of the lower cervical vertebrae which inserts into the mastoid process acting to keep the head upright and to move it backward or to one side.

(Longissimus Capitis, NCI Thesaurus)

The geniculate ganglion cells send central processes to the brain stem and peripheral processes to the taste buds in the anterior tongue, the soft palate, and the skin of the external auditory meatus and the mastoid process.

(Geniculate Ganglion, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)