Mal"le*us (?), n.; pl. Mallei (#). [L., hammer. See Mall a beetle.]

1. Anat.

The outermost of the three small auditory bones, ossicles; the hammer. It is attached to the tympanic membrane by a long process, the handle or manubrium. See Illust. of Far.

2. Zool.

One of the hard lateral pieces of the mastax of Rotifera. See Mastax.

3. Zool.

A genus of bivalve shells; the hammer shell.

 

© Webster 1913.