a. & n. [ Basi- + pterygoid. ] (Anat.) Applied to a protuberance of the base of the sphenoid bone. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. epi- + pterygoid. ] (Anat.) Situated upon or above the pterygoid bone. -- n. An epipterygoid bone or cartilage; the columella in the skulls of many lizards. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Palato- + pterygoid. ] (Anat.) Pertaining to the palatine and pterygoid region of the skull; as, the palatopterygoid cartilage, or rod, from which the palatine and pterygoid bones are developed. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_;, &unr_;, a wing + -oid. ] (Anat.) (a) Like a bird's wing in form; as, a pterygoid bone. (b) Of, pertaining to, or in the region of, the pterygoid bones, pterygoid processes, or the whole sphenoid bone. -- n. A pterygoid bone. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pterygoid bone (Anat.), a bone which corresponds to the inner plate of the pterygoid process of the human skull, but which, in all vertebrates below mammals, is not connected with the posterior nares, but serves to connect the palatine bones with the point of suspension of the lower jaw. --
Pterygoid process (Anat.), a process projecting downward from either side of the sphenoid bone, in man divided into two plates, an inner and an outer. The posterior nares pass through the space, called the pterygoid fossa, between the processes. [ 1913 Webster ]