[mod.L., neut. sing. of med.L. *suspensōrius SUSPENSORY.]
1. Surg. A suspensory bag, bandage, etc.
1758. J. S., Le Dran’s Observ. Surg. (1771), 339. I advised him to wear a Suspensorium..., to favour the spermatick Vessels.
1859. Mayne, Expos. Lex.
2. The bone, or series of bones, cartilages, etc., by which the lower jaw is suspended from the skull in vertebrates below mammals.
1869. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., XI. 577. The suspensorium is slender.
1870. Rolleston, Anim. Life, 43. Skeleton of Common Perch…. The suspensorium is articulated moveably to the outer and back part of the cranium.
1881. Mivart, Cat, 460. Its mandible directly articulates with the skull, and there is no suspensorium.
