noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A furrow or groove in an organ or a tissue, especially that marking the convolutions of the surface of the brain.

   "The sulci and gyri are the grooves and ridges, respectively."

2. 2
   (anatomy) any of the narrow grooves in an organ or tissue especially those that mark the convolutions on the surface of the brain wordnet
3. 3
   A region of subparallel grooves or ditches formed by a geological process.

Synonyms

All synonyms

chasechinkcorrugationcrackcrannycut

Example

More examples

"The sulci and gyri are the grooves and ridges, respectively."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sulcus (“a furrow made by a plow”). Doublet of sullow ("plough").

Related phrases

gluteal sulcusintermammary sulcussulcus cutis

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