carpal

From the Latin carpālis.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑː(ɹ)pəl/
• (US) enPR: kärʹ pəl, IPA^(key): /ˈkɑɹ.pəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)pəl
• Homophone: carpel

carpal (plural carpals)

1. (anatomy) Any of the eight bones of the wrist (carpus).

carpal (not comparable)

1. Of or pertaining to the carpus.
2. Of or pertaining to the obvious bend in a bird's wing.
   • 2020, Marianne Taylor, How Birds Work:

     The human wrist contains eight carpal bones and the hand has five metacarpals , but in birds just a couple of tiny carpal bones remain besides the carpometacarpus; these are the radiale and the ulnare, involved in the folding of the wrist joint.