Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One of the pectora] muscles, or muscles of the breast, passing from the thorax to the scapular arch or its appendage.
  • noun In ichthyology, a pectoral fin.

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

  • noun anatomy A pair of muscles that lowers the wings of birds in flight

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

  • noun either of two large muscles of the chest

Etymologies

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Examples

  • In Germany, Halsted had seen Volkmann remove not just the breast, but a thin, fanlike muscle spread out immediately under the breast called the pectoralis minor, in the hopes of cleaning out the minor fragments of leftover cancer.

    The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee 2010

  • In Germany, Halsted had seen Volkmann remove not just the breast, but a thin, fanlike muscle spread out immediately under the breast called the pectoralis minor, in the hopes of cleaning out the minor fragments of leftover cancer.

    The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee 2010

  • In Germany, Halsted had seen Volkmann remove not just the breast, but a thin, fanlike muscle spread out immediately under the breast called the pectoralis minor, in the hopes of cleaning out the minor fragments of leftover cancer.

    The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee 2010

  • A great, fan-shaped muscle, called the pectoralis major, lies on the chest.

    A Practical Physiology Albert F. Blaisdell

  • It can recur on the chest wall, which is called the pectoralis muscle.

    FOXNews.com 2010

  • But Halsted, evidently scornful of “mistaken kindness,” did not stop his surgery at the pectoralis major.

    The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee 2010

  • Birds found here and in only few other places include white-bellied seedeaters Sporophila leucoptera, grassland yellow-finches Sicalis luteola, chalk-browed mockingbirds Mimus saturninus, tropical peewees Contopus cinereus, rufous-throated antbirds Gymnopithys rufigula, black-breasted puffbirds Notharchus pectoralis, and plain-bellied emeralds Amazilia leucogaster.

    Marajó varzea 2008

  • Instead of stripping away the thin pectoralis minor, which had little function, Halsted decided to dig even deeper into the breast cavity, cutting through the pectoralis major, the large, prominent muscle responsible for moving the shoulder and the hand.

    The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee 2010

  • Instead of stripping away the thin pectoralis minor, which had little function, Halsted decided to dig even deeper into the breast cavity, cutting through the pectoralis major, the large, prominent muscle responsible for moving the shoulder and the hand.

    The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee 2010

  • With the pectoralis major cut off, the shoulders caved inward as if in a perpetual shrug, making it impossible to move the arm forward or sideways.

    The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee 2010

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