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anvil

 - 10 dictionary results

an⋅vil

[an-vil]
–noun
1. a heavy iron block with a smooth face, frequently of steel, on which metals, usually heated until soft, are hammered into desired shapes.
2. anything having a similar form or use.
3. the fixed jaw in certain measuring instruments.
4. Also called anvil cloud, anvil top. Meteorology. incus (def. 2).
5. a musical percussion instrument having steel bars that are struck with a wooden or metal beater.
6. Anatomy. incus (def. 1).

Origin:
bef. 900; ME anvelt, anfelt, OE anfilt(e), anfealt; c. MD anvilte, OHG anafalz. See on, felt 2

in⋅cus

[ing-kuhs]
–noun, plural in⋅cu⋅des [in-kyoo-deez] for 1; in⋅cus for 2.
1. Anatomy. the middle one of a chain of three small bones in the middle ear of humans and other mammals. Compare malleus, stapes.
2. Also called anvil, anvil cloud, anvil top, thunderhead. the spreading, anvil-shaped, upper portion of a mature cumulonimbus cloud, smooth or slightly fibrous in appearance.

Origin:
1660–70; < NL, L incūs anvil, equiv. to incūd- (s. of incūdere to hammer, beat upon) + -s nom. sing. ending; see incuse


in⋅cu⋅date [ing-kyuh-deyt, -dit, in-] , in⋅cu⋅dal [ing-kyuh-dl, in-] , adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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an·vil   (ān'vĭl)   
n.  
    1. A heavy block of iron or steel with a smooth, flat top on which metals are shaped by hammering.

    2. Something resembling an anvil, as in shape or function.

  1. The fixed jaw in a set of calipers against which an object to be measured is placed.

  2. Anatomy See incus.


[Middle English anfilt, from Old English; see pel-5 in Indo-European roots.]
in·cus   (ĭng'kəs)   
n.   pl. in·cu·des (ĭng-kyōō'dēz)
  1. An anvil-shaped bone between the malleus and the stapes in the mammalian middle ear. Also called anvil.

  2. A thunderhead.


[Latin incūs, incūd-, anvil, from incūsus, past participle of incūdere, to forge with a hammer : in-, intensive pref.; see in-2 + cūdere, to beat, forge; see kau- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

anvil 
O.E. anfilte, a W.Gmc. compound (cf. M.Du. anvilt, O.H.G. anafalz, Dan. ambolt) from *ana- "on" + *filtan "hit" (see felt (n.)). Anvil Chorus is based on the "Gypsy Song" that opens Act II of Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Il Trovatore," first performed in Teatro Apollo, Rome, Jan. 19, 1853.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: an·vil
Pronunciation: 'an-v&l
Function: noun
: INCUS

Main Entry: in·cus
Pronunciation: 'i[ng]-k&s
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural in·cu·des /i[ng]-'kyüd-(")Ez,'i[ng]-ky&-"dEz/
: the middle bone of the chain of three ossicles in the middle ear of a mammal resembling a premolar tooth with the body having a facet which articulates withthe malleus and with the longer of the two widely separated crura having a process which articulates with the stapes called also ambos, anvil
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

anvil an·vil (ān'vĭl)
n.
See incus.

incus in·cus (ĭng'kəs)
n. pl. in·cu·des (ĭng-ky&oomacr;'dēz)
The middle of the three ossicles in the middle ear, located between the malleus and the stapes and composed of a body and two limbs. Also called anvil.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Bible Dictionary

Anvil

the rendering of the Hebrew word , "beaten," found only in Isa. 41:7.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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