Nuchal

//ˈnu.kəl// adj, noun, slang

adj, noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The back of the neck.
  2. 2
    Ellipsis of nuchal translucency scan. abbreviation, alt-of, colloquial, ellipsis
  3. 3
    A neck scale, especially of a lizard.

    "Dunn gives a key to a part of this group of Eumeces, based upon the number of nuchals, placing the two American species (he does not consider Eumeces altamirani Dugès) in a group having 14-17 pairs of nuchals;[…]."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or pertaining to the back or nape of the neck. not-comparable

    "What is the differential diagnosis of increased nuchal thickness? Although most fetuses with increased nuchal thickness are normal, the differential diagnosis of increased nuchal thickness includes an increased risk of fetal aneuploidy, particularly trisomy 21."

Synonyms

All synonyms
napenapenuchascruff

Example

More examples

"Dunn gives a key to a part of this group of Eumeces, based upon the number of nuchals, placing the two American species (he does not consider Eumeces altamirani Dugès) in a group having 14-17 pairs of nuchals;[…]."

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin nuchālis, from nucha + -ālis, from Arabic نُخَاع (nuḵāʕ, “spinal cord”).

Related phrases

nuchal cordnuchal scan

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.