Definition of "quadrate" []

• A square or cube. (noun)
• An approximately square or cubic area, space, or object. (noun)
• Zoology A bone or cartilaginous structure of the skull, joining the upper and lower jaws in birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. (noun)
• Having four sides and four angles; square or rectangular. (adjective)
• Zoology Of or being the quadrate bone or cartilage. (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.

• "Its upper border blends with the anterior and posterior ligaments of the elbow, while from its lower border a thin loose membrane passes to be attached to the neck of the radius; a thickened band which extends from the inferior border of the annular ligament below the radial notch to the neck of the radius is known as the quadrate ligament."
• "The cartilaginous bar from the palato-pterygoid to the otic capsule is called the quadrate, and at the point of junction, at the postero-ventral angle of the palato-pterygoid, articulates with the cartilaginous bar which is destined to form the substratum of the lower jaw -- Meckel's cartilage (M.c. in Figure 8, I.)."
• "He thought he could show that the skeletal structures (lower jaw, "quadrate," and hyoid) of the first two arches were formed in the serous layer, just like true ribs, and like them in close connection with the vertebral skeletal axis."