STERNOCLEIDOMASTOID

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sternocleidomastoid mean? 

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

1. one of two thick muscles running from the sternum and clavicle to the mastoid and occipital bone; turns head obliquely to the opposite side; when acting together they flex the neck and extend the head

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

 Dictionary entry details 

• STERNOCLEIDOMASTOID (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

One of two thick muscles running from the sternum and clavicle to the mastoid and occipital bone; turns head obliquely to the opposite side; when acting together they flex the neck and extend the head

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

musculus sternocleidomastoideus; sternocleido mastoideus; sternocleidomastoid; sternocleidomastoid muscle

Hypernyms ("sternocleidomastoid" 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)

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

cervix; neck (the part of an organism (human or animal) that connects the head to the rest of the body)

 Context examples 

A congenital benign neoplasm arising from the sternocleidomastoid muscle in infants.

(Fibromatosis Colli, NCI Thesaurus)

A surgical procedure in which all the ipsilateral cervical lymph node groups of the neck are removed but the internal jugular vein, sternocleidomastoid muscle, and/or spinal accessory nerve are preserved.

(Modified Radical Neck Dissection, NCI Thesaurus)