Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Meniscus

Me-nis′cus

,
Noun.
;
pl. L.
Menisci
(-sī)
, E.
Meniscuses
(#)
.
[NL., from Gr.
μηνίσκος
, dim. of
μήνη
the moon.]
1.
A crescent.
2.
(Opt.)
A lens convex on one side and concave on the other.
3.
(Anat.)
An interarticular synovial cartilage or membrane; esp., one of the intervertebral synovial disks in some parts of the vertebral column of birds.
Converging meniscus
,
Diverging meniscus
.
See
Lens
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Meniscus

MENIS'CUS

,
Noun.
plu.
meniscuses. [Gr. a little moon.]
A lens convex on one side, and concave on the other.

Definition 2024


meniscus

meniscus

English

A: The bottom of a concave meniscus.
B: The top of a convex meniscus.

Noun

meniscus (plural meniscuses or menisci)

  1. A crescent moon, or an object shaped like it. [from 17th c.]
    • 1972, Vladimir Nabokov, Transparent Things, McGraw-Hill 1972, p. 19:
      He opened wide both casements; they gave on a parking place four floors below; the thin meniscus overhead was too wan to illumine the roofs of the houses descending toward the invisible lake [...].
  2. (optics) A lens which is convex on one side and concave on the other, being crescent-shaped in cross-section. [from 17th c.]
  3. The curved surface of liquids in tubes, whether concave or convex, caused by the surface tension of the liquid. [from 19th c.]
  4. (anatomy) Either of two parts of the human knee that provide structural integrity to the knee when it undergoes tension and torsion. [from 19th c.]

Translations

See also