Webster's English Dictionary

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vertebra

ver.te.bra \'v*rt-*-br*\ \-(.)bre-, -.bra-\ n or ver.te.brae or vertebras 
   [L, joint, vertebra, fr. vertere to turn - more at WORTH] pl  : one of the 
   bony or cartilaginous segments composing the spinal column, c onsisting in 
   some lower vertebrates of several distinct elements which never become 
   united, and in higher vertebrates having a short more or less cylindrical 
   body whose ends articulate by pads of elastic or cartilaginous tissue with 
   those of adjacent vertebrae and a bony arch that encloses the spinal cord