Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A thick muscle in the cheek that closes the jaws during chewing.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In anatomy, one of the principal muscles of mastication, the action of which directly and forcibly closes the mouth.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Anat.) The large muscle which raises the under jaw, and assists in mastication.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun anatomy The large
muscle which raises the underjaw , and assists inmastication .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a large muscle that raises the lower jaw and is used in chewing
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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One of the most powerful of them, the 'masseter', rises from the superior maxillary bone, and spreads over its whole extent: therefore, that bone is developed, while the nasal bone is compressed into a very small space.
The Dog William Youatt 1811
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The patient may present with tachycardia or masseter muscle spasm which quickly progresses to hyperthermia, skeletal muscle rigidity, tachycardia, metabolic and respiratory acidosis and electrolyte abnormalities.
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And I still cook fish head-on and eat the masseter cheek as well as the regular part of the fish.
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The strong masseter muscles become activated, which can lead to increased tooth wear, fracture of the teeth and in severe cases joint and facial pain syndromes.
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Those depressed areas on the frontals and zygomatic processes have apparently evolved to allow particularly large temporalis and masseter muscles, the muscles involved in closing the jaw.
From cigar to elongated, bloated tadpole: rorquals part II Darren Naish 2006
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Those depressed areas on the frontals and zygomatic processes have apparently evolved to allow particularly large temporalis and masseter muscles, the muscles involved in closing the jaw.
Archive 2006-10-01 Darren Naish 2006
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The temporalis, located in the temporal fossa of the skull, opens and closes the jaw, as does the masseter.
Muscles Part 2 2008
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This enables the masseter muscle to develop increased force during chewing.
You Being Beautiful Michael F. Roizen 2008
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This enables the masseter muscle to develop increased force during chewing.
You Being Beautiful Michael F. Roizen 2008
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After she examined Sprite, Dr. Bardsley characterized his condition as “pronounced masseter muscle atrophy,” a severe shrinkage of the muscles on the right side of his face.
Rescuing Sprite Mark R. Levin 2007
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