Definition of "occlusal" [occlusal]

• Of or relating to occlusions of the teeth, especially the chewing or biting surfaces: occlusal wear. (adjective)

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.

• "Michael credits luck with getting past some of the trickier words that few 14-year-olds have great occasion to drop in conversation, like "occlusal," but he admits he's fond of reading "old stuff" such as "Beowulf" and "Romeo and Juliet.""
• "The combination of evenly distributed occlusal enamel and relatively short dentine horns in G. blacki results in a flat and low-cusped occlusal surface suitable to grinding tough or fibrous food objects."
• "Gigantopithecus blacki molar enamel (and to a lesser extent, that of Pongo pygmaeus) is distributed relatively evenly across the occlusal surface compared with the more complex distribution of enamel thickness in Homo sapiens."