MASTOID PROCESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mastoid process mean? 

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

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

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

 Dictionary entry details 

• MASTOID PROCESS (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 process" 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 process"):

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

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

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

 Context examples 

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)