mastoid process

American  

noun

1. a large, bony prominence on the base of the skull behind the ear, containing air spaces that connect with the middle ear cavity.

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mastoid process Scientific  

/ măs′toid′ /

1. A protruding bony area in the lower part of the skull that is located behind the ear in humans and many other vertebrates and serves as a site of muscle attachment. The mastoid process contains small air-filled cavities called mastoid cells that communicate with the middle ear.

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Etymology

Origin of mastoid process

First recorded in 1725–35

Example Sentences

For example, a small change of direction on the mastoid process, a bony projection behind the ear, indicates whether a person has detached or attached earlobes.

From The Guardian

Further, a prominence called the mastoid process is notched at the back, not smooth.

From New York Times

Leeches have been applied to the parts mentioned, and over the mastoid processes have sometimes been used with advantage, but their depletory surpasses their revulsive action, and is, so far, injurious.

From Project Gutenberg

Externally, there is scarlet redness of the neck below the mastoid process, throbbing of the carotids, the neck feels tired, the head heavy and the parotid glands are swollen and painful.

From Project Gutenberg

In the horse it is attached to the angle of the lower jaw by a tendon, which an aponeurosis that passes under the parotid gland binds to the mastoido-humeral muscle and the mastoid process.

From Project Gutenberg