costa Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a riblike part of a plant or animal (such as a middle rib of a leaf or a thickened vein of an insect wing)
  2. noun any of the 12 pairs of curved arches of bone extending from the spine to or toward the sternum in humans (and similar bones in most vertebrates)
    rib.

WordNet

Cos"ta noun
Etymology
L., rib. See Coast.
Definitions
  1. (Anat.) A rib of an animal or a human being.
  2. (Bot.) A rib or vein of a leaf, especially the midrib.
  3. (Zoöl.) (a) The anterior rib in the wing of an insect. (b) One of the riblike longitudinal ridges on the exterior of many corals.

Webster 1913