digastric
- noun
- /daɪˈɡæstrɪk/
- Specialized
- The digastric muscle plays a crucial role in swallowing.
Examples
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The doctor explained that the digastric muscle helps open the jaw during eating.
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An injury to the digastric can make swallowing difficult.
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The doctor explained that the digastric helps open the jaw during eating.
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During the anatomy lesson, students identified the digastric on the neck model.
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He felt pain in his digastric area after the surgery.
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An injury to the digastric muscle can make swallowing difficult.
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During the anatomy lesson, students identified the digastric muscle on the neck model.
Surface Forms
Morphology
digastric = gastric (semi-transparent) = di + gastr + ic
The prefix di- and the classical stomach/belly root are recognizable, but the anatomical sense 'two-bellied muscle' is specialized and only partly predictable.
Etymology
Digastric comes from Greek parts di- meaning 'two' and gaster meaning 'belly', like the word gastric for the stomach. So a digastric is a 'two-bellied' muscle with two parts joined by a tendon, which helps move the jaw and swallow.