incus

American  

[ing-kuhs] / ˈɪŋ kəs /

noun

plural

incudes, incus

1. Anatomy. the middle one of a chain of three small bones in the middle ear of humans and other mammals.

2. Also called thunderhead.  Also called anvil.  Also called anvil cloud.  Also called anvil top,.  the spreading, anvil-shaped, upper portion of a mature cumulonimbus cloud, smooth or slightly fibrous in appearance.

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incus British  

/ ˈɪŋkəs, ˈɪŋkjʊˌdeɪt, ˈɪŋkjʊdəl /

noun

1. Nontechnical name: anvil.  the central of the three small bones in the middle ear of mammals Compare malleus stapes

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incus Scientific  

/ ĭng-kyo̅o̅′dēz /

plural

incudes

1. The anvil-shaped bone (ossicle) that lies between the malleus and the stapes in the middle ear.

2. The elongated, often anvil-shaped upper portion of a fully developed cumulonimbus cloud; a thunderhead.

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Other Word Forms

• incudal adjective
• incudate adjective

Etymology

Origin of incus

1660–70; < New Latin, Latin incūs anvil, equivalent to incūd- (stem of incūdere to hammer, beat upon) + -s nominative singular ending; incuse

Example Sentences

The incus attaches the malleus to the stapes.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

If we did not have the malleus and the incus, then the vibrations of the tympanum would never reach the inner ear.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

The incus is the bridge between the malleus and stapes.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

The three ossicles are the malleus, incus, and stapes, which are Latin names that roughly translate to hammer, anvil, and stirrup.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

The other bones are the incus, or anvil, the round bone, and the stapes, or stirrup—the latter so called from its resemblance to a stirrup-iron.

From Mind Amongst the Spindles by Various