ligament

A strong band inside your body that joins one bone to another.

• She tore a ligament in her knee.
• These ligaments help keep the joint stable.
• The surgeon repaired the damaged ligament.

Common phrases: torn ligament, knee ligament, ligament injury

Something that joins people or things together and keeps them united.

• Trust was the ligament of their friendship.
• The writer describes justice as a social ligament.
• These shared customs formed ligaments between scattered communities.

How to use it: ligament of something (Shared memory became a ligament of the community.)

Similar words: bond, tie, link

Common phrases: social ligament, ligament of society, ligament of trust