acetabulum

Noun
Synonyms: cotyloid cavity

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

  1. the cup-shaped hollow in the hipbone into which the head of the femur fits to form a ball-and-socket jointSynonyms: cotyloid cavity
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Acetabulum \Ac`e*tab"u*lum\, n. [L., a little saucer for vinegar, fr. acetum vinegar, fr. acere to be sour.] [1913 Webster]

1.(Rom. Antiq.) A vinegar cup; socket of the hip bone; a measure of about one eighth of a pint, etc. [1913 Webster]

2.(Anat.) (a) The bony cup which receives the head of the thigh bone. (b) The cavity in which the leg of an insect is inserted at its articulation with the body. (c) A sucker of the sepia or cuttlefish and related animals. (d) The large posterior sucker of the leeches. (e) One of the lobes of the placenta in ruminating animals. [1913 Webster]

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