Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The largest, most prominent muscle of the calf of the leg, the action of which extends the foot and bends the knee.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A superficial muscle of the posterior tibial region, arising from the femur and inserted into the tarsus, the action of which extends the foot upon the leg, and flexes the leg upon the thigh: so called from its character in man, in whom it forms, together with the soleus, the protuberant or “bellying” part of the calf of the leg.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Anat.) The muscle which makes the greater part of the calf of the leg.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The
muscle at the back of thecalf , whoseinsertion is theAchilles tendon at theheel .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the muscle in the back part of the leg that forms the greater part of the calf; responsible for the plantar flexion of the foot
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Works upper and lower legs quadriceps, hamstrings, gastrocnemius
The Life You Want Bob Greene 2010
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Works upper and lower legs quadriceps, hamstrings, gastrocnemius
The Life You Want Bob Greene 2010
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Compared with a control group of women who usually wore flat shoes, the stiletto wearers 'Achilles tendons were about 20% stiffer, and the fibers of the gastrocnemius muscle in their calves were about 12% shorter.
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Works upper and lower legs quadriceps, hamstrings, gastrocnemius
The Life You Want Bob Greene 2010
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The other major muscle group in the leg is the gastrocnemius, the big calf muscle.
THE PROGRAM KELLY TRAVER 2009
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Together, the quadriceps, hamstrings, and gastrocnemius form the big-muscle trio that surrounds and supports your knee.
THE PROGRAM KELLY TRAVER 2009
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The symptoms of "tennis leg" most commonly results from an acute rupture of the Achilles tendon and less frequently, by a tear in one of the calf muscles, the gastrocnemius muscle, or the plantaris tendon.
Helene Pavlov: Tennis Season Is Here -- All About a Common Noncontact Injuries in the Lower Leg 2009
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The other major muscle group in the leg is the gastrocnemius, the big calf muscle.
THE PROGRAM KELLY TRAVER 2009
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Together, the quadriceps, hamstrings, and gastrocnemius form the big-muscle trio that surrounds and supports your knee.
THE PROGRAM KELLY TRAVER 2009
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Example is when the gastrocnemius (calf) muscle raises the weight of the body on the toes.
Muscles Part 1 2008
treeseed commented on the word gastrocnemius
"And whether he would have ever escaped out of the town it is hard to say, if the dog had not taken it into his head that they were going to pull his master in pieces, and tackled them so sharply about the gastrocnemius muscle that he gave them some business of their own to think of at last; and while they were rubbing their bitten calves, Tom and the dog got safe away."
_from Water Babies - Charles Kingsley, 1937
January 31, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word gastrocnemius
"He took the most particular notice of her progression, her muscular movements, the paucity of the gluteus maximus, the odd disposition and contraction of the gastrocnemius, and on the other hand the prodigious breadth of shoulder and very powerful great arms—clearly an animal made for moving among trees."
--Patrick O'Brian, The Thirteen Gun Salute, 221–222
March 5, 2008
reesetee commented on the word gastrocnemius
I presume he was referring to a non-human animal, c_b? Because I didn't think that until I got to the last phrase....
March 5, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word gastrocnemius
Yes, he was watching an orang-utang. I purposely left that part out. Makes it a rather interesting excerpt. :)
March 6, 2008
reesetee commented on the word gastrocnemius
You sly dog, you.
I mean bear.
March 6, 2008