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lacuna

/ləˈkunə/
/ləˈkunə/
IPA guide

Other forms: lacunae; lacunas

A lacuna is a gap or missing part. If you complain that there's a major lacuna in the bake sale, the lack of brownies is probably to blame.

The noun lacuna means an empty space or a hole where something should be. It's used a lot to talk about missing parts of books or manuscripts, either because lost pages have created a lacuna, or because censors have blacked out or removed parts of them. In the study of anatomy, a lacuna is a hollowed-out place or a cavity within a bone. In Latin, lacuna means "pit or hole," and its plural is lacunae.

Definitions of lacuna
  1. noun
    a blank gap or missing part
    synonyms: blank
    see moresee less
    type of:
    crack, gap
    a narrow opening
  2. noun
    an ornamental sunken panel in a ceiling or dome
    synonyms: caisson, coffer
    see moresee less
    type of:
    panel
    sheet that forms a distinct (usually flat and rectangular) section or component of something
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