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Glite Dictionary
carpal bone

carpal bone

1 4.8
One of the eight small bones in the wrist between the forearm and the hand
  • noun
  • /ˈkɑːr.pəl boʊn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : hueso carpiano
  • The scaphoid is the most commonly injured carpal bone in both adults and children.

Examples

  • This one was carrying many small bones in her gastric pouches, all of them recognizably human: a few carpal bones, metacarpi, and the terminal digits of a human hand.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The scaphoid is the most commonly injured carpal bone in both adults and children.

  • My carpal bones have softened somewhat in readiness for change; they may firm again by the time I've determined how difficult it will be to achieve my transformation.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • In late 2010, she suffered a fracture of the carpal bone and a wrist dislocation that required surgery to repair.

  • Stress travels down the phalanges through the metacarpals in the palm to the carpal bones where it is dissipated.

Synonyms

carpal
vscarpal bone
  • Specialized
18 7.2

One of the small bones in the wrist

specifies those bones and their position between forearm and hand
wrist bone
vscarpal bone
  • Specialized
1 3.0

Small bones in the wrist that help the hand move

is the technical term that also notes the bones sit between forearm and hand

Surface Forms

carpal bone singular
carpal bones plural

Morphology

carpal + bone

The meaning 'any of the small bones forming the wrist' is directly derivable from combining 'carpal' (relating to the wrist) with 'bone' (a skeletal element). This is a transparent, compositional medical noun phrase (wrist-bone), and learners who know both constituents can infer the overall meaning.

Etymology

Carpal bone comes from an old word for the wrist: carpal means 'wrist' and bone is the hard part inside your body, so carpal bone simply means 'one of the small bones in the wrist'.