PECTORALIS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pectoralis mean? 

• PECTORALIS (noun)
  The noun PECTORALIS has 1 sense:

1. either of two large muscles of the chest

  Familiarity information: PECTORALIS used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PECTORALIS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Either of two large muscles of the chest

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

musculus pectoralis; pecs; pectoral; pectoral muscle; pectoralis

Hypernyms ("pectoralis" is a kind of...):

skeletal muscle; striated muscle (a muscle that is connected at either or both ends to a bone and so move parts of the skeleton; a muscle that is characterized by transverse stripes)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pectoralis"):

greater pectoral muscle; musculus pectoralis major; pectoralis major (a skeletal muscle that adducts and rotates the arm)

musculus pectoralis minor; pectoralis minor; smaller pectoral muscle (a skeletal muscle that draws down the scapula or raises the ribs)

Holonyms ("pectoralis" is a part of...):

chest; pectus; thorax (the part of the human torso between the neck and the diaphragm or the corresponding part in other vertebrates)

 Context examples 

The term may refer to one of two muscles, the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor.

(Pectoralis Muscle, NCI Thesaurus)

One of two hemispheric projections of variable size situated in the subcutaneous layer over the pectoralis major muscle on either side of the chest.

(Breast, NCI Thesaurus)

The organ of milk secretion; one of two hemispheric projections of variable size situated in the subcutaneous layer over the pectoralis major muscle on either side of the chest of the mature female; it is rudimentary in the male.

(Female Breast, NCI Thesaurus)

Breast. 1. The pectoral surface of the thorax. 2. The organ of milk secretion; one of two hemispheric projections of variable size situated in the subcutaneous layer over the pectoralis major muscle on either side of the chest of the mature female; it is rudimentary in the male.

(Murine Breast, Female, NCI Thesaurus)

The latter is a thin muscle located beneath the pectoralis major.

(Pectoralis Muscle, NCI Thesaurus)