Definitions

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

  • noun The large four-part extensor muscle at the front of the thigh.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In anatomy, the quadriceps extensor cruris of the thigh; the great muscle which extends the leg upon the thigh, considered as consisting of the rectus, cruræus, and vastus internus and externus.

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

  • noun (Anat.) The great extensor muscle of the knee, divided above into four parts which unite in a single tendon at the knee.

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

  • noun anatomy A muscle having four heads, especially the large extensor at the front of the thigh.

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

  • noun a muscle of the thigh that extends the leg

Etymologies

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

[quadri– + (bi)ceps.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin quattuor, four, + caput, head

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word quadriceps.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.