Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or resembling the arm or a similar or homologous part, such as the foreleg, wing, or other forelimb of a vertebrate.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In the morphology of the Crinoidea, one of the calcareous plates which compose the arms.
  • Belonging to the arm, fore leg, wing, pectoral fin, or other fore limb of a vertebrate; especially, belonging to the upper part of such member, from the shoulder to the elbow.
  • Of or pertaining to the brachia of the Brachiopoda or of other animals, as the wings of pteropods, the arms of cephalopods, the rays of crinoids, etc
  • noun In ichthyology, one of the series of bones to which the rays of the pectoral fins of fishes are attached.
  • noun In human anatomy: The brachial artery. In the Latin form brachialis (anticus), a muscle of the front of the upper arm, arising from the front of the humerus and inserted into the ulna, flexing the forearm. Also called anticobrachialis. See cut under muscle.
  • noun One of the joints of the branches of a crinoid, between the radials and the palmars; one of the joints of the third order, or of a division of the radials.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective (Anat.) Pertaining or belonging to the arm.
  • adjective Of the nature of an arm; resembling an arm.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Pertaining or belonging to the arm.
  • adjective Of the nature of an arm.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of or relating to an arm

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin brācchiālis, from brācchium, arm; see brachium.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Late Latin *brachialis, from Classical Latin brachium ("arm")

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Examples

  • Acting upon this information, Galen applied stimulating remedies to the source of the nerve itself -- that is, to the bundle of nerve-trunks known as the brachial plexus, in the shoulder.

    A History of Science: in Five Volumes. Volume I: The Beginnings of Science 1904

  • A form of paralysis caused by trauma to the upper brachial plexus in the spinal cord, usually during childbirth.

    Hand clinic: treatment of deformities, conditions, injuries 2010

  • There is a lot of vital stuff in the neck such as the carotid artery, the jugular vein, and at the lower portion of the neck the brachial arteries.

    Neck or behind the shoulder? 2009

  • Its superficial surface is subcutaneous, excepting at its upper part, where it is covered by the Trapezius, and at its insertion, where its tendon is crossed by the axillary vessels and the brachial plexus of nerves.

    The Not-So-Theology of the Body 2009

  • There is a lot of vital stuff in the neck such as the carotid artery, the jugular vein, and at the lower portion of the neck the brachial arteries.

    Neck or behind the shoulder? 2009

  • “The bullet that entered her shoulder”—he touched the spot on his own shoulder to indicate—“transected the medial cord of the brachial plexus—”

    Arcane Circle Linda Robertson 2011

  • But if a child keeps up the same motion, it can lead to more serious problems including damage to the brachial plexus network of nerves that conducts signals from the spine to the shoulder, arm and hand, Dr. Vaughn says.

    How Heavy Can a Backpack Get? Willa Plank 2011

  • Successful treatment of hydrofluoric acid burns of the fingers with intraarterial infusions of calcium salts has been reported. 15 A 1.66 percent solution of calcium gluconate or calcium chloride was infused slowly into the radial or brachial artery over four hours.

    Hydrofluoric Acid 2010

  • They basically destroyed her nether-regions, and they ripped the brachial nerve plexus in my right shoulder.

    A Good Birth | Her Bad Mother 2010

  • “The bullet that entered her shoulder”—he touched the spot on his own shoulder to indicate—“transected the medial cord of the brachial plexus—”

    Arcane Circle Linda Robertson 2011

Comments

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  • JM wonders, given his family name, why he has just discovered the very useful word ‘brachial’.

    April 25, 2011