| ivory | 1. The hard, white, opaque, fine-grained substance constituting the tusks of the elephant. It is a variety of dentine, characterised by the minuteness and close arrangement of the tubes, as also by their double flexure. It is used in manufacturing articles of ornament or utility. Ivory is the name commercially given not only to the substance constituting the tusks of the elephant, but also to that of the tusks of the hippopotamus and walrus, the hornlike tusk of the narwhal, etc. 2. The tusks themselves of the elephant, etc. <zoology> Ivory gull, a white Arctic gull (Larus eburneus). <botany> Ivory nut, any species of Eburna, a genus of marine gastropod shells, having a smooth surface, usually white with red or brown spots. Vegetable ivory, the meat of the ivory nut. Origin: OE. Ivori, F. Ivoire, fr. L. Eboreus made of ivory, fr. Ebur, eboris, ivory, cf. Skr. Ibha elephant. Cf. Eburnean. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| ivory exostosis | A small, rounded, eburnated tumour arising from a bone, usually one of the cranial bones. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ivory membrane | The lining membrane of the pulp cavity of a tooth, consisting of the odontoblastic layer. Synonym: ivory membrane. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ivory vertebra | A radiographically dense vertebra, usually from metastatic disease, especially lymphoma when solitary. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ivory vertebral body | <radiology> Single or multiple very dense vertebra: collapse, metastases, sclerotic metastasis or treated lytic metastasis, preservation of disc space and vertebral body size, Paget's disease, usually single vertebral body, expanded body with thickened cortex and coarsened trabeculation, disc space preserved, lymphoma, preservation of disc space and vertebral body size, infection (low grade), end plate destruction, disc space narrowing, paraspinal soft tissue mass (12 Dec 1998) |
| ivory-bill | <zoology> A large, handsome, North American woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), having a large, sharp, ivory-coloured beak. Its general colour is glossy black, with white secondaries, and a white dorsal stripe. The male has a large, scarlet crest. It is now rare, and found only in the Gulf States. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |