: a bone of the part of the hand or forefoot between the carpus and the phalanges that typically contains five more or less elongated bones when all the digits are present
Examples of metacarpal in a Sentence
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Adjective
Prison officials said the metacarpal intra-articular base fracture, sometimes called a Bennett or Rolando fracture, to Templin’s thumb was caused by Templin repeatedly punching a wall.
—Nicole Blanchard, Idaho Statesman, 13 June 2024
Merely two hours after the game it was announced that Barnes had suffered a fracture to his third metacarpal bone in his left hand and is now out indefinitely.
—Esfandiar Baraheni, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2024
Noun
The rookie right-handed reliever fractured the fifth metacarpal in the pinky of his non-throwing hand after Monday night’s win over the Houston Astros.
—Christian Babcock, The Mercury News, 25 July 2024
In addition to an up-close look at the screw holding Patel's fifth metacarpal in place and allowed filming to continue, the shirt had a bubble printed on the front to represent the movie's COVID quarantine and a cartoon monkey — a nod to the movie — gracing the back.
—Sara Netzley, EW.com, 31 Mar. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Metacarpal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metacarpal. Accessed 2 Nov. 2024.
Kids Definition
metacarpal
1 of 2 adjective
meta·car·pal
ˌmet-ə-ˈkär-pəl
: of, relating to, or being the part of the hand or front foot or a bone of this part that is between the carpal bones and the bones of the fingers or toes
metacarpal
2 of 2 noun
: a metacarpal bone
Medical Definition
metacarpal
1 of 2 adjective
meta·car·pal
ˌmet-ə-ˈkär-pəl
: of, relating to, or being the metacarpus or a metacarpal
metacarpal
2 of 2 noun
: any bone of the metacarpus of the human hand or the front foot in quadrupeds
More from Merriam-Webster on metacarpal
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about metacarpal
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