▪ I. spinal, n.
Also 4, 7 spinall, 5 spynal, 7 spinnall, spinnel, 9 spinel.
[Of obscure origin; in sense 2 app. a. G. spinal (Du. spinaal), thread or yarn of various kinds.]
† 1. Some textile fabric. Obs.
| 1399–40 Compotus frat. orat. dominice in civitate Ebor. (MS.), Et de xiiij d. pro iiij ulnis et dimidio et j quart. de spinall pro corpore dicti Richardi involvendo. 1431 Maldon Crt. Rolls Bundle 18 No. 6, j pese de spynal contin. xii ellys, prec. le elle iii d. obol. |
2. A kind of yarn (see later quots.).
| 16.. Advt. of M. Gregory, Haberdasher, at the Raven and Sun, Drury Lane, Inkle and Spinnel, and Scotch Yarn. 1692 Patent Office No. 286. 1 The Makeing of Spinall Yarne is a new Invention never practiced before. Ibid., Severall workmen out of Germany..skilled in makeing the said spinnall. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade 203/2 Unwrought inkle, or short spinel, is bleached yarn. Ibid. 355/1 Spinal, a kind of unwrought inkle. |
▪ II. spinal
obs. form of spinel (ruby).
▪ III. spinal, a.
(ˈspaɪnəl)
Also 6–7 spinall.
[ad. late L. spīnālis, f. spīna spine n.1 So F. spinal, It. spinale, Sp. espinal.]
1. Of or pertaining to, forming part of or located in, the spine or backbone: a. In spinal marrow or spinal cord.
| (a) 1578 Banister Hist. Man i. 6 Cerebellum..lyeth vnder the brayne, and the spinall marey thence slydeth from the head. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 875 Some Nerues..doe arise from the brayne,..others from the Spinall marrow. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 189 The spinall marrow, which is but the braine prolonged. 1767 Gooch Treat. Wounds I. 341 Wounds in any part of the spinal-marrow require no peculiar treatment. 1830 Herschel Study Nat. Phil. 87 The seat of the exertion..is demonstrably..either in the brain or in the spinal marrow. 1881 Mivart Cat 15 If the skull and backbone be cut through, the white substance of the brain and spinal marrow will be found within them. |
| (b) 1836 Penny Cycl. V. 330/1 A long cord of nervous matter filling the cavity of the vertebral or spinal column, called the spinal cord. 1851 Carpenter Man. Phys. (ed. 2) 417 Convulsive actions, which are dependent upon the medulla oblongata and spinal cord, may continue for a minute or two longer. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 478 [Certain cases] were confused by him with cases of spinal cord origin. |
b. With other ns., as artery, bone, canal, etc. spinal puncture or spinal tap: the insertion of a needle into the subarachnoid space of the spine, usu. in the lumbar region, so that cerebrospinal fluid may be withdrawn or something introduced.
| 1725 Pope Odyss. x. 668 Full endlong from the roof the sleeper fell, And snapped the spinal joint and waked in hell. 1726 Monro Anat. 181 That Protuberance..is called the Spinal Process, from which this whole Series of Bones has got its Name. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 99 The stake..they run up withinside the spinal bone. 1771 Encycl. Brit. I. 219 [It] is fixed..to the last spinal apophysis of the back. c 1793 Ibid. (1797) I. 759 A thin transparent substance, which from its indentations between the spinal nerves has obtained the name of ligamentum denticulatum. 1799 Med. Jrnl. II. 461 The spinal artery..had been noticed by Berengar, as a white shining line. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xxxvii. IV. 18 Those remarkable nerves described by Lyonnet under the name of spinal bridle (bride épinière). 1845 Budd Dis. Liver 360 They [hydatid tumors] have been met with, but in comparatively very few instances,..in the spinal canal. 1881 Mivart Cat 275 The 11th, or Spinal Accessory Nerve, is a comparatively insignificant one. 1896 Brit. Med. Jrnl. Suppl. 4 Jan. 1/3 Only a few drops of fluid could be obtained by spinal puncture. 1919 A. Levinson Cerebrospinal Fluid i. 25 Corning, who was the first to use spinal puncture, employed an operation that was fraught with danger to the cord. 1972 Noback & Demarest Nervous System iv. 35 Some CSF is withdrawn and replaced by air which acts as a contrast medium. The air is introduced by passing a needle either directly into the ventricle or between the lower two lumbar vertebrae (spinal tap) into the lumbar cistern. 1979 Sci. Amer. Aug. 66/3 He underwent at least 48 spinal taps, three air encephalograms and numerous myelograms. 1980 K. E. Moyer Neuroanatomy xii. 36/2 In a spinal tap, or spinal puncture, the needle is always introduced into the subarachnoid space below the termination of the spinal cord itself. |
c. absol. With ellipse of artery or nerve.
| 1888 W. R. Gowers Man. Dis. Nervous System II. 406 It usually supplies the ‘bulbar’ nuclei,..in part directly, and in part by the anterior spinal. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 33 If all are not directly innervated by the spinal accessory, division..may not be completely successful. |
2. (See quot.) rare—1.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 203 All spinall [fishes], or such as have no ribs, but only a back bone, or somewhat analogous thereto, as Eeles, Congers, Lampries. |
3. Of diseased conditions: Affecting the spine.
| 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xxx, Letters inflicted with every possible variation of spinal deformity. 1878 A. M. Hamilton Nerv. Dis. 219 Spinal hemorrhage is usually the result of a transmutism. 1878 R. Braithwaite Life & Lett. W. Pennefather ii. 22 The memoranda..tell of such..suffering and debility, from spinal irritation. 1884 Queen 9 Feb. 132/2 (Advt.), Partial paralysis. Spinal curvature,..constipation, corpulence, &c. 1976 J. Blackburn Face of Lion viii. 54 A cripple with one leg longer than the other and a pronounced spinal curvature. |
| Comb. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2268/1 Spinal-Distortion Apparatus, an apparatus designed to gradually restore the spine to its normal condition when it has become curved. |
4. Resembling a spine or backbone in form or function.
| 1841 Florist's Jrnl. (1846) II. 301 There may be rain on the central, or spinal, mountains and hills. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxiii. 301 Everywhere else the spinal ridge seemed unbroken. 1903 Westm. Gaz. 20 May 12/1 If water does not fall on his acres, he will bring it to them from his long spinal mountain range if necessary. |
5. a. Of qualities: Arising from, seated in, the spine. Also fig.
| 1855 Bain Senses & Int. i. ii. §18 The permanent tension of the muscle is in part due to spinal influence. 1890 Pall Mall G. 5 Sept. 1/2 The news will give a spice to sport, a spinal strength to the desultory conversation of the rambler. |
b. spinal reflex, a reflex involving the spinal cord but not the brain.
| 1898 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. CXC. 141 In the Dog and Cat the spinal reflex movements are more forcible. 1924 Jrnl. Physiol. LVIII. 411 Shivering to cold cannot be produced as a spinal reflex. 1978 Brain Res. CXLII. 431 Stimulation of all three segmental nerves simultaneously produced up to a 100% increase in size of the spinal reflex. |
6. Of appliances: Adapted to, intended for, application to the spine. Of a seat or carriage: designed to support the spine. Now Hist.
| 1864–8 J. Chapman (title-p.), Sea-Sickness, and how to prevent it..by Means of the Spinal Ice Bag. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2268/1 Spinal Brace,..a brace for remedying posterior curvature of the spine. 1884 Queen 16 Feb. 189/2 (Advt.), Leveson's Improved Invalid's Carriage... Adjustable Spinal Couches. 1895 Arnold & Sons' Catal. Surg. Instrum. 782 Spinal Support,..for double lateral curvature. 1900 Illustr. London News 25 Aug. 291/2 (Advt.), Adjustable Bath Chair or Spinal Carriage. 1917 Harrods Gen. Catal. 1038 A very easy and comfortable Bath Chair and Spinal Carriage Combined, enabling a person to take outdoor exercise in a sitting, reclining, or horizontal position. 1973 Times 7 May 17/7 Many years ago I travelled in a spinal carriage every few weeks from Selby to Leeds and back in the guard's van. |
7. Physiol. a. Involving the spine as containing a major part of the central nervous system: spinal anæsthesia, spinal analgesia, anæsthesia, analgesia induced by an injection into the spine (see quot. 1938); spinal block, (a) an obstruction to the flow of the cerebro-spinal fluid; (b) spinal anæsthesia or analgesia; spinal shock, a temporary flaccid paralysis and loss of reflexes in some muscles that may follow an injury to the spine, the ones affected being those whose nerves come from a point in the spinal cord below the site of the injury.
| 1885 N.Y. Med. Jrnl. XLII. 483/2 (heading) *Spinal anaesthesia and local medication of the cord. 1912 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 23 Nov. 1859/1 There are practically no contraindications to the employment of spinal *analgesia. 1938 Maxson & Babcock Spinal Anesthesia i. 1 Spinal anesthesia is the term most commonly used... It is technically correct when all the sensory faculties—touch, temperature and muscle sense, as well as pain—are abolished in the affected region. Spinal analgesia is the correct technical term when pain sense alone is abolished without the loss of the epicritical faculties. The distinction between the two terms, however, is rarely made. 1974 Lichtiger & Moya Introd. Pract. Anesthesia xv. 152 Tetracaine is the most commonly used drug for spinal anesthesia. 1976 D. D. Moir Obstetric Anaesthesia & Analgesia vii. 209 Low spinal analgesia is eminently suited to the performance of forceps delivery. |
| 1928 Arch. Neurol. & Psychiatry XIX. 613 The compression of the veins of the neck..is used most often in spinal lesions with level symptoms in order to determine whether a ‘*spinal block’ is present. 1976 D. D. Moir Obstetric Anaesthesia & Analgesia vii. 215 A low spinal block creates a tranquil patient, free of all pain and operating conditions are excellent. |
| 1898 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. CXC. 134 Goltz's descriptions of *spinal shock are masterly, but they refer entirely to the Dog, and to transection below the middle of the back. 1962 D. D. Bonnycastle in Keele & Smith Assessment of Pain in Man & Animals 235 It was felt that these animals might still be exhibiting some degree of spinal shock, and therefore we prepared a colony of chronic spinal rats. 1978 Exper. Neurol. IX. 16 Spinal shock is caused by the lack of excitatory input from the brain. |
b. Used to describe an animal whose spine has been severed from its brain.
| 1900 C. S. Sherrington in E. A. Schäfer Text-bk. Physiol. II. 818 The spinal frog, when placed on its back, does not, as a rule, right itself. 1917 Brain XL. 230 ‘Spinal man’ cannot stand, and shows no primary extensor activity. 1962 [see prec. sense]. 1971 Sci. Amer. Aug. 75/2 Sherrington found for example, that a spinal dog would withdraw a leg that received a sharp poke and would simultaneously brace the opposite leg to assume the weight removed from the withdrawn leg. |
8. Comb., as spinal-depressant, spinal-stimulant.
| 1874 Garrod & Baxter Mat. Med. 263 Commercial conia was found to exhibit spinal-stimulant and spinal-depressant actions. |
Hence ˈspinally adv.
| 1885 Meredith Diana II. viii. 191 Spinally prepared..to repay dignity of mien with a similar erectness of dignity. |
Add: [7.] c. absol. as n. Short for spinal anæsthetic (or anæsthesia); also, = epidural n. U.S. Med. colloq.
| 1938 H. K. Beecher Physiol. Anesthesia i. 72 The reduced blood volume must be restored at once, for ‘spinal’ subjects tolerate blood loss poorly. 1947 S. M. Shane Out of this World viii. 72 You wish you could understand how this miraculous thing called a spinal works. 1960 J. Updike Rabbit, Run 203, I have no legs,..it's the funniest feeling... They gave me a spinal. 1977 M. French Women's Room (1978) i. 68 ‘It's time for the spinal,’ the woman wailed... ‘Tell the doctor to come.’ 1988 Acta Anaesthesiol. Belgica XXXIX. 181/1 The results of these procedures are germane to my opposition to the provision of a spinal for Caesarean section. |