alar ligament

noun

Medical Definition of alar ligament

1 : either of a pair of strong rounded fibrous cords of which one arises on each side of the cranial part of the dens, passes obliquely and laterally upward, and inserts on the medial side of a condyle of the occipital bone

called also check ligament

— see apical ligament of the dens
2 : either of two folds of the synovial membrane of the knee that resemble fringes