ALL meanings of notochord
no·to·chord
N n - noun notochord A cartilaginous skeletal rod supporting the body in all embryonic and some adult chordate animals. 1
- noun notochord a rodlike cord of cells that forms the chief axial supporting structure of the body of the lower chordates, as amphioxus and the cyclostomes, and of the embryos of the vertebrates. 1
- noun notochord a fibrous longitudinal rod in all embryo and some adult chordate animals, immediately above the gut, that supports the body. It is replaced in adult vertebrates by the vertebral column 0
- noun notochord an elongated, rod-shaped structure composed of cells, forming the primitive supporting axis of the body in the lowest chordates and lying between the digestive tract and the central nervous system 0
- noun notochord a similar structure in the embryonic stages of higher vertebrates, which later is surrounded and replaced by the vertebral column 0