Find the word definition

Crossword clues for calcar

The Collaborative International Dictionary
calcar

Hippocampus \Hip`po*cam"pus\, n. [L., the sea horse, Gr. ? a hippocampus (in senses 1 and 2); "i`ppos horse + ? to bend.]

  1. (Class. Myth.) A fabulous monster, with the head and fore quarters of a horse joined to the tail of a dolphin or other fish ( Hippocampus brevirostris), -- seen in Pompeian paintings, attached to the chariot of Neptune.
    --Fairholt.

  2. (Zo["o]l.) A genus of lophobranch fishes of several species in which the head and neck have some resemblance to those of a horse; -- called also sea horse.

    Note: They swim slowly, in an erect position, and often cling to seaweeds by means of the incurved prehensile tail. The male has a ventral pouch, in which it carries the eggs till hatched.

  3. (Zo["o]l.) A name applied to either of two ridges of white matter in each lateral ventricle of the brain. The larger is called hippocampus major or simply hippocampus. The smaller, hippocampus minor, is called also ergot and calcar.

Wiktionary
calcar

Etymology 1 n. A small oven or furnace, used for the calcination of sand and potash, and converting them into frit. Etymology 2

n. (context botany anatomy English) A spur-like projection.

Wikipedia
Calcar

The calcar, also known as the calcaneum, is the name given to a spur of cartilage arising from inner side of ankle and running along part of outer interfemoral membrane in bats, This is to help spread the interfemoral membrane, which is part of the wing membrane between the tail and the hind legs.

This membrane can form a basket or pouch to help catch and hold insects captured in flight. The oldest known ancestor to present day bats, Icaronycteris index, apparently did not have a calcar or spur as evidenced by fossil remains.

Calcar (Femorale) also refers to the dense, vertically oriented bone present in the posteroemedial region of the femoral shaft inferior to the lesser trochanter of the femur.

Usage examples of "calcar".

For the same reason I have always felt a great desire to receive praise and applause from polite society: 'Excitat auditor stadium, laudataque virtus Crescit, et immensum gloria calcar habet.