spine

noun

USSPYN/spaɪn/

11 meanings of spine

1
nouncountable
The row of small bones running down the middle of the back, from the head to the hips.
Like a stack of small blocks that holds your body up straight.
The doctor checked her spine carefully after the fall.
A healthy spine lets you bend and twist without pain.
Similarbackbone
Note
2
nouncountable
The narrow back edge of a book that you see when it sits on a shelf.
Like the labeled edge of a folder standing upright in a drawer.
She read the title on the spine before pulling the book from the shelf.
The old book's spine was cracked and faded from years of use.
Similarback
3
nounfigurativelyuncountable
The courage to stand up for yourself and not give in to others.
Like having a strong inside that won't bend when others push you.
It took real spine to tell the boss he was wrong.
She finally found the spine to say no to her friends.
Similarbackbone
Oppositecowardice, weakness
Note
4
nouncountable
A sharp, stiff point that grows on some plants or animals, like a thorn or a quill.
Like the sharp needles that stick out all over a cactus.
A cactus is covered in dozens of sharp spines.
The hedgehog raised every spine on its back when it felt threatened.
Similarthorn, spike, needle, prickle, quill
Note
5
nouncountable
A long ridge or central part that other things branch out from.
Like the center line of a leaf with smaller lines branching off it.
A rocky spine ran along the top of the mountain range.
The main hallway forms the spine of the building, with rooms off each side.
Similarbackbone, ridge, axis
Note
6
nouncountable
The main part that holds everything else together.
Like the strong middle pole that holds up a whole tent.
Trust forms the spine of any lasting friendship.
Without its volunteers, the charity would lose its spine.
Similarbackbone, mainstay, core, heart
Note
7
nounabbreviationellipsis
Short for dendritic spine. Use it for the tiny signal-receiving bumps on a nerve cell.
Under the microscope, each spine bulged from the surface of the dendrite.
Researchers counted every spine along the neuron's branches.
Note
8
nouncountable
A tall column of thick lava pushed up out of a volcano.
Like toothpaste squeezed from a tube, but made of thick, hot rock.
A lava spine rose slowly above the crater for weeks.
The volcano pushed up a spine of hardening rock.
Note
9
nouncountable or uncountable
How stiff an arrow is, and how much it bends when you shoot it.
Like how far a ruler bends when you press on both ends.
This arrow has too much spine for my bow.
A lighter bow needs an arrow with less spine.
Similarstiffness
10
nouncountable
A pay system used by some big organizations, with set steps for wages.
Like a ladder where each step up means a little more pay.
Her new job moved her two points up the pay spine.
The union argued for a higher starting point on the spine.
Similarscale
11
noun
The hard, dead wood at the center of a tree trunk.
Like the hard middle of a tree that helps hold it up.
The carpenter prized the dark spine of the old oak.
Rot had not yet reached the spine of the trunk.
Similarheartwood
Oppositesapwood
Note

Practice

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Origin

It comes from Latin spina, meaning a thorn or the backbone. It reached English through Old French espine.