Word
pectoral
Phoneticspec·toral
US/ˈpɛktɝəɫ/
UK/pˈɛktəɹəl/
Definition
n. a large, flat muscle on the front of your chest. It helps you move your arms forward and across your body.
n. a large, triangular muscle situated on the anterior surface of the thorax. In a zoological context, it refers to the corresponding muscle in birds and other animals, often associated with flight.
Examples
“The pectoral muscle is very strong in swimmers.”
“The athlete's training program focuses heavily on strengthening the pectoral muscles to improve his bench press performance.”
“In avian anatomy, the pectoral muscles are divided into two distinct groups: the large, powerful muscles responsible for the downstroke of flight and the smaller ones that handle the upstroke.”
Examples
simple
“The pectoral muscle is very strong in swimmers.”
contextual
“The athlete's training program focuses heavily on strengthening the pectoral muscles to improve his bench press performance.”
complex
“In avian anatomy, the pectoral muscles are divided into two distinct groups: the large, powerful muscles responsible for the downstroke of flight and the smaller ones that handle the upstroke.”
Real-World Examples
“Each dark ring on a fish’s scales, or on the pectoral fin spines of non-scaly fish such as sturgeons , represents a year of the animal’s life.” “The biker thinks it’s a joke at first and refuses, extinguishing his cigar on the T-800’s bared pectoral muscle—with no effect.” Etymology
All senses are ultimately from Latin pectorālis, but some may have come through Old French and Middle English.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/pectoral