nounplural noun astragali/əˈstraɡ(ə)lʌɪ/

• 1Zoology
  

  another term for talus (ankle bone)

  ‘Most of what I found were unidentifiable broken sections of long bones, but I did find a bird femur (thigh bone) and a nice rodent astragalus (ankle bone).’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Next to the pelvic bone was a much smaller bone, an astragalus (ankle bone), also of an elephant.’
  • ‘In the hind limb of these species, the bones of the ankle are also reduced in number, and the astragalus becomes the main weight-bearing bone.’

  1. 1.1astragali historical Small bones used as dice.
     ‘The astragalus, a precursor to the die made from the knuckle bone of animals, was found in archeological sites of early peoples.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Worked astragali from the deposit may indicate that gaming or fortune-telling took place.’
     • ‘These astragali have four clearly defined surfaces and were probably the antecedents of the ordinary six-faced cube or die, specimens of which are datable as far back as 3000 B.C.’
     • ‘It might have been supposed that, after playing with astragali, dice, and cards for several thousand years, man would have arrived relatively early at some concept of the laws of chance.’
     • ‘Gradually, over thousands of years, astragali were replaced by dice, and the latter became the most common means of generating random events.’
• 2A plant of a genus that includes milk vetch.

  Genus Astragalus, family Leguminosae

  ‘For centuries, the Chinese have used astragalus, or milk vetch root, to treat ailments by strengthening the body's natural defenses.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘I'd also like to take antioxidant vitamins and the herbs astragalus and milk thistle to help prevent a recurrence, but my doctors disagree.’
  • ‘Nutritional supplements like echinacea, goldenseal, elderberry and astragalus have long been recognized in folk medicine as cold and flu remedies.’
  • ‘However, people with lupus should avoid certain supplements, like alfalfa, which promotes inflammation, and immune stimulators, like astragalus and echinacea.’
  • ‘Alternative remedies such as echinacea and astragalus support the immune system.’