Noun

(en noun)

(mineralogy)   Any of several hard minerals of cubic symmetry that are mixed oxides of magnesium and aluminium and are used as gemstones of various colours.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2012-03

, author=Lee A. Groat , title=Gemstones , volume=100, issue=2, page=128 , magazine=(American Scientist) citation , passage=Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel , tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)}}

(solid state chemistry)   Any crystalline material, not necessarily an oxide, that possesses the same crystal structure as this mineral.

Bleached yarn in making the linen tape called inkle; unwrought inkle.

(Knight)

(Webster 1913)

Noun

(en noun)

The series of bones situated at the back from the head to the pelvis of a person, or from the head to the tail of an animal; backbone, vertebral column.

* 1851 , (Herman Melville), (Moby-Dick) , :

If you attentively regard almost any quadruped's spine , you will be struck with the resemblance of its vertebrae to a strung necklace of dwarfed skulls.

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, title=The Mirror and the Lamp citation

Something resembling a backbone, such as a ridge, or a long, central structure from which other structures radiate.

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# The narrow, bound edge of a book.

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A rigid, pointed surface protuberance or needle-like structure on an animal, shell, or plant.

* 1871 , (Charles Darwin), (w) , :

The male, as Dr. Gunther informs me, has a cluster of stiff, straight spines , like those of a comb, on the sides of the tail.

(figurative) Courage or assertiveness.

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