spine
noun
[ spʌɪn ]
• a series of vertebrae extending from the skull to the small of the back, enclosing the spinal cord and providing support for the thorax and abdomen; the backbone.
• "a soft voice that sent a shiver down her spine"
• the part of a book's jacket or cover that encloses the inner edges of the pages, facing outwards when the book is on a shelf and typically bearing the title and the author's name.
• any hard, pointed defensive projection or structure, such as a prickle of a hedgehog, a spike-like projection on a sea urchin, a sharp ray in a fish's fin, or a spike on the stem of a plant.
Similar:
needle,
quill,
bristle,
barb,
spike,
prickle,
thorn,
spicule,
spicula,
spiculum,
spinule,
• a linear pay scale operated by some large organizations that allows flexibility for local and specific conditions.
• a tall mass of viscous lava extruded from a volcano.
• "the Mt Pelee spine was exceptional only for its extreme height—over 300 metres"
Origin:
late Middle English: shortening of Old French espine, or from Latin spina ‘thorn, prickle, backbone’.
