= spinal column
something like a spinal column or constituting a central axis or chief support
the back of a book, usu lettered with the title and author's name
a stiff pointed plant part, esp one that is a modified leaf or leaf part
a sharp rigid part of an animal or fish; or a pointed prominence on a bone
spined adj
[Middle English, in the senses ‘thorn’, ‘spinal column’, from Latin spina]