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Glite Dictionary
🦴 Lower chest bone 🗡️ Sword-shaped
xiphoid

xiphoid

1 9.9
A small bone or soft piece of cartilage at the lower end of the breastbone
  • noun
  • /ˈzɪfɔɪd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : proceso xifoides
  • The surgeon made a careful incision just above the xiphoid process to access the abdomen.
  • xiphoid process

Examples

  • The doctor explained that the xiphoid process can vary in shape among different individuals.

  • Reference electrodes are placed below the xiphoid process and in the shoulder and taped into position.

    Academic text (2006)

  • A Y-incision was made from the biIateraI cIavicuIar joints to the xiphoid process.

    Mirrors (2008)

  • And I can't tell you how many times I have jabbed my ribs, my xiphoid process, my solar plexus trying to get that baby in and out.

  • During the anatomy class, we learned that the xiphoid process is the smallest part of the sternum.

Synonyms

xiphoid process
vsxiphoid
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A small part at the bottom of the breastbone that can feel hard

gives the same structure without extra anatomical details

Compounds

xiphoid process
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A small part at the bottom of the breastbone that can feel hard

Surface Forms

xiphoid singular
xiphoids plural

Morphology

xiphoid = xiphoid process (opaque) = xipho + oid

The combining form 'xipho-' is not a standalone English word and '-oid' is a technical suffix, so the components are unlikely to help an average B1 learner derive the anatomical meaning.

Etymology

Xiphoid is named from Greek xiphos 'sword' and the ending -oid 'like' because it looks like a tiny sword. So the xiphoid is the small, sword-shaped piece of cartilage or bone at the bottom of the breastbone.