What does "thigh" mean?

1. (human anatomy) the top part of your leg, between your hip and your knee. 2. (animal anatomy or food) the top part of an animal's leg, often used when talking about meat.

thigh

US //ˈθaɪ// UK //θˈaɪ// thigh

1 human anatomy (n.)
B1 Intermediate Medicine

the top part of your leg, between your hip and your knee.

the upper part of the human leg between the hip and the knee, containing the femur bone.

Example

He pulled a muscle in his left thigh while running for the bus.

Example

The surgeon made a small incision in the patient's upper thigh to access the femoral artery during the procedure.
- upper leg
2 animal anatomy or food (n.)
B1 Intermediate Cooking

the top part of an animal's leg, often used when talking about meat.

the corresponding part of the leg in other vertebrates, or the upper leg portion of a bird used as food.

Example

The recipe calls for four chicken thighs and a cup of white wine.

Example

Chicken thighs are often preferred by chefs over breast meat because their higher fat content prevents them from drying out during roasting.
- drumstick
- leg

Origin

From Middle English thigh, thegh, thiȝ, theȝhe, þigh, þyȝh, from Old English þēoh, þīoh, from Proto-West Germanic þeuh, from Proto-Germanic þeuhą, from Proto-Indo-European *tewk-. See also West Frisian tsjea, Dutch dij, Middle High German diech, Icelandic þjó; also Irish tóin (“hind, rump”), Lithuanian táukas (“fat”), Russian тук (tuk, “animal fat”).