( of bone especially the temporal bone) resembling stone in hardness

Like stone; hard; stony; rocky; as, the petrous part of the temporal bone.

Same as Petrosal.

Like stone: hard.

Hard; stony.

Hard; stony; in anat., applied to the portion of the temporal bone in which the internal organs of hearing are situated.

Very hard or stony; a pyramidal portion of the temporal bone wedged in between sphenoid and occipital; also a ganglion on its lower border.

In fractures passing across the petrous temporal, the nerve may be torn at the time of the injury, or may become pressed upon by a traumatic effusion or by callus later, but considering the frequency of these fractures it is comparatively seldom damaged. – Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities--Head--Neck. Sixth Edition. by Alexander Miles Alexis Thomson