malleus

2 definitions found

malleus - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Malleus \Mal"le*us\, n.; pl. Mallei. [L., hammer. See Mall a
     beetle.]
     1. (Anat.) The outermost of the three small auditory bones,
        ossicles; the hammer. It is attached to the tympanic
        membrane by a long process, the handle or manubrium. See
        Illust. of Far.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Zool.) One of the hard lateral pieces of the mastax of
        Rotifera. See Mastax.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Zool.) A genus of bivalve shells; the hammer shell.
        [1913 Webster]

malleus - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  malleus
      n 1: the ossicle attached to the eardrum [syn: malleus,
           hammer]