tibia

noun

tib·​ia ˈti-bē-ə 

plural tibiae ˈti-bē-ˌē 

-bē-ˌī

also tibias

1

: the inner and usually larger of the two bones of the vertebrate hind or lower limb between the knee and ankle

2

: the fourth joint of the leg of an insect between the femur and tarsus

tibial

ˈti-bē-əl 

adjective

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

One of the dogs, Wildfire, suffered a broken rear tibia, fibula and femur but recovered after multiple surgeries and started this year’s race. —Mark Thiessen, ajc, 15 Mar. 2023

Elliott fractured his tibia snowboarding last week. —San Francisco Chronicle, 7 Mar. 2023

Then-redshirt freshman Hanyes King started in the season opener against Kent State and in the following week against Colorado to mixed results, but he was ultimately sidelined with a fractured tibia. —Dallas News, 9 Feb. 2022

Those injuries were stabilized with a rod in the tibia. —Stefanie Dazio And Doug Ferguson, Chron, 24 Feb. 2021

Lacking the lower third of its left leg, the body's tibia and fibula bones stopped abruptly in a cut much cleaner that what an accident or an animal attack could cause. —Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 8 Sep. 2022

As a result of the fall, George broke his tibia, pelvis and chin, shattered his femur, had a concussion and sustained damage to his growth plate, Erin Brewer said. —Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 16 Nov. 2022

Once there, Wieber sustained a tough stress fracture on her tibia. —April Wallace, Arkansas Online, 9 Oct. 2022

In the 2021 accident, Woods suffered fractures to the upper and lower portions of his tibia and fibula bones in his right leg. —Alexandra Schonfeld, PEOPLE.com, 7 June 2022

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Word History

Etymology

Latin

First Known Use

circa 1706, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

tibia

noun

tib·​ia ˈtib-ē-ə 

plural tibiae -ē-ˌē 

-ē-ˌī

also tibias

1

: the inner and usually larger of the two bones of the vertebrate leg that is located between the knee and the ankle

called also shinbone

2

: the fourth joint of the leg of an insect between the femur and the tarsus

tibial

-ē-əl 

adjective

Medical Definition

tibia

noun

tib·​ia ˈtib-ē-ə 

plural tibiae -ē-ˌē  -ē-ˌī  also tibias

: the inner and usually larger of the two bones of the leg between the knee and ankle that articulates above with the femur and below with the talus

called also shinbone