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Definition of "lacuna" []

  • An empty space or a missing part; a gap: "self-centered in opinion, with curious lacunae of astounding ignorance” ( Frank Norris). (noun)
  • Anatomy A cavity, space, or depression, especially in a bone, containing cartilage or bone cells. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "lacuna" in a sentence
  • "This lacuna is conspicuous when compared to the extensive comparative literature on similar welfare institutions in the advanced industrialized economies of Western Europe and North America."
  • "Is this because these spiritual guides of our race are too poor or too over-worked to serve his purpose, or do we perhaps, -- in this regrettable "lacuna" -- stumble upon one of the little smiling prejudices of our great conformist?"
  • "One of these lacunæ, larger than the rest, is situated on the upper surface of the fossa navicularis; it is called the lacuna magna."