Odontoid
This bone part can be a pain in the neck
Today’s New York Times Spelling Bee letters:
A, D, H, I, N, T, and center O (all words must include O)
Merriam-Webster says…
Silly little dictionary! Don’t you know odontoid can’t possibly be a word if the New York Times says it ain’t?
For further fascinating facts, check out the Spelling Bee Master.
What’s your favorite dord* from today’s puzzle?
My Two Cents
The word odontoid as an adjective may be used in the term odontoid process or the term odontoid ligament. Each case uses a different definition, as shown above.
When we say odontoid process, we refer to the “toothlike process projecting from the anterior end of the centrum of the axis vertebra on which the atlas vertebra rotates”. Here, process means “part of the mass of an organism or organic structure that projects outward from…
