Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The pit of the stomach.
- noun A depression in the hyaloid membrane of the eye on a level with the entrance of the optic nerve.
- noun See
supraclaticular . - noun The depression between the sternal and the clavicular origins of the sternomastoid muscle.
- noun In zoology, a genus of Madagascan viverrine quadrupeds, allied to the genets.
- noun [lowercase] The species of this genus, formerly called
Genetta fossa . - noun In anatomy, a foss, pit, depression, or hollow of some kind in any structure, specified by a qualifying term.
- noun In zoology, a deep pit or depression in the hard integument of an animal, often opening into the interior cavity of the body and serving for the point of attachment of an organ: as, the antennary fossa of an insect.
- noun See the adjectives.
- noun A depressed space between the posterior commissure of the vulva and the fourchette.
- noun The surface by which the temporal bone articulates with the lower jaw; improperly extended in human anatomy to include the whole of the smooth surface of the vaginal process behind the Glaserian fissure, in relation with the parotid gland, and not concerned in the temporomaxillary articulation. See cut under
skull . - noun The innominate fossa of the outer ear; the groove between the helix and the antihelix; the fossa of the helix. See second cut under
ear .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Anat.) A pit, groove, cavity, or depression, of greater or less depth
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun anatomy A
pit ,groove ,cavity , ordepression , of greater or less depth. - noun geology A long, narrow,
shallow depression on the body of anextraterrestrial body, such as aplanet ormoon . - noun A
carnivorous mammal endemic toMadagascar , with scientific name Cryptoprocta ferox
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun largest carnivore of Madagascar; intermediate in some respects between cats and civets
- noun a concavity in a surface (especially an anatomical depression)
- noun monotypic genus of Madagascar civets closely related to palm civets
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Response to David: some books say that fossa is pronounced 'foosh', which would agree with your comment.
Giant hoatzins of doom Darren Naish 2006
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And the presence of the glands in this location might explain another unusual aspect of metriorhynchid cranial anatomy, namely the strange elongate, groove-like antorbital fossae present in these animals (the antorbital fossa is an accessory opening present on the side of the skull in archosaurs).
My party and those marvellous metriorhynchids Darren Naish 2006
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And the presence of the glands in this location might explain another unusual aspect of metriorhynchid cranial anatomy, namely the strange elongate, groove-like antorbital fossae present in these animals (the antorbital fossa is an accessory opening present on the side of the skull in archosaurs).
Archive 2006-07-01 Darren Naish 2006
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Dorian - a "fossa" - looks to us like a cross between a dog, a cat, a bat and a gerbil - or maybe a bear.
Summit Daily News - Top Stories By Dorian the Fossa 2010
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Dorian - a "fossa" - looks to us like a cross between a dog, a cat, a bat and a gerbil - or maybe a bear.
Summit Daily News - Top Stories By Dorian the Fossa 2010
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Dorian - a "fossa" - looks to us like a cross between a dog, a cat, a bat and a gerbil - or maybe a bear.
Summit Daily News - Top Stories By Dorian the Fossa 2010
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Similarly, the fossa is related to more familiar cats through the suborder Feliformia, but lie in a different family (Eupleridae) than the lions, tigers and housecats we’re familiar with (Felidae).
Big, previously unknown palm tree discovered! « Skulls in the Stars 2008
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On the outside of the rectal wall, at the terminal portion, there is also much loose, fatty (areolar) tissue filling the ischio-rectal fossa, which is very prone to suppuration, and inflammation here is called periproctitis.
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At the upper part of the fossa is a transverse depression, where the bone appears to be bent on itself along a line at right angles to and passing through the center of the glenoid cavity, forming a considerable angle, called the subscapular angle; this gives greater strength to the body of the bone by its arched form, while the summit of the arch serves to support the spine and acromion.
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On the floor of the fossa are the popliteal vessels, the vein being superficial to the artery and united to it by dense areolar tissue; the vein is a thick-walled vessel, and lies at first lateral to the artery, and then crosses it posteriorly to gain its medial side below; sometimes it is double, the artery lying between the two veins, which are usually connected by short transverse branches.
bilby commented on the word fossa
Another bit of animal weirdness from Madagascar.
November 8, 2008