- spinal column, vertebral column, spine, backbone, back, rachis - the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord; "the fall broke his back"
--1 is a kind of skeletal structure
--1 is a part of axial skeleton
--1 has parts:
--1 has particulars: notochord; chinespinal canal, vertebral canal, canalis vertebralis; coccyx, tail bone; vertebra; intervertebral disc, intervertebral disk - spur, spine - any pointed projection
--2 is a kind of projection
- spine, thorn, prickle, pricker, sticker - a sharp-pointed tip on a stem or leaf
--3 is a kind of aculeus
--3 has particulars: glochidium, glochid - spine - a sharp rigid animal process or appendage; as a porcupine quill or a ridge on a bone or a ray of a fish fin
--4 is a kind of process, outgrowth, appendage
--4 has particulars: ray; quill