dorsal

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 21, 2020 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>dorsal</strong> &#149; \DOR-sul\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> relating to or situated near or on the back especially of an animal or of one of its parts</p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> situated out of or directed away from the axis <strong>:</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abaxial">abaxial</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>I might have identified the bird as a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yellow-throated%20vireo">yellow-throated vireo</a> if I'd had more than a <em>dorsal</em> view.</p> <p>"In later films, the bony <em>dorsal</em> plates that run along [Godzilla's] spine and tail glow ominously as he unleashes a concentrated blast of atomic breath from his jaws, blasting everything it touches." — <a href="https://www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/movies/reshaping-a-reptile-the-evolution-of-godzilla/article_ce1f89bc-d334-11ea-ab2f-0343ab10295f.html">Michael Abatemarco, <em>The Santa Fe New Mexican</em>, 4 Sept. 2020</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>The most famous use of <em>dorsal</em> is with <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dorsal%20fin">fin</a></em>, whether it conjures the ominous dorsal fin of sharks or the benign, even benevolent, image of porpoises and dolphins. Less well-known is the botanical sense of <em>dorsal</em>, meaning "facing away from the axis or stem" (thus the underside of a leaf can be the dorsal side), or the linguistic sense referring to articulations made with the back part of the tongue (\k\ and \g\, for example). <em>Dorsal</em> can be used of non-living things too (in particular, the backs of airplanes), as can its opposite, <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ventral">ventral</a></em>, which