XIPHOID PROCESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does xiphoid process mean? 

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

1. smallest of the three parts of the breastbone; articulates with the corpus sternum and the seventh rib

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

 Dictionary entry details 

• XIPHOID PROCESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Smallest of the three parts of the breastbone; articulates with the corpus sternum and the seventh rib

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("xiphoid process" is a kind of...):

bone; os (rigid connective tissue that makes up the skeleton of vertebrates)

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

breastbone; sternum (the flat bone that articulates with the clavicles and the first seven pairs of ribs)

 Context examples 

A hole in the base of the chest formed by the twelfth vertebrae, tenth and twelfth ribs, costal arch and the xiphoid process through which arteries, veins and nerves pass.

(Lower Opening of the Thorax, NCI Thesaurus)