pectoral muscle
2
3.9
- noun
- /ˈpɛktərəl ˈmʌsəl/
- Specialized
:
músculo pectoral
- Also on Wednesday, Trent Richardson practiced and hopes to play on Sunday, while second-year defensive lineman Phil Taylor was able to suit up as he recovers from his pectoral muscle injury.
- pectoral muscles and crural
- longissimus dorsi muscles and pectoral muscles
- pectoral muscles and dorsi muscles
Examples
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After months of training, he proudly showed off his well-defined pectoral muscles at the beach.
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Look at those pectoral muscles.
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One exercise alone cannot obtain real definition in the pectoral muscles.
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Flyers work the inner pectoral muscles, but you really have to squeeze them together.
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When Hampton tore a pectoral muscle just prior to his first start of the season, Atlanta found themselves operating without three of their five regular starters.
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Lifting weights is essential for developing strong pectoral muscles that help enhance your upper body strength.
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During the anatomy lesson, we learned how the pectoral muscles contribute to the movement of the shoulders and arms.
Synonyms
3
6.4
One of the two large front chest muscles that move the arm
2
7.2
A large chest muscle on each side that helps move the shoulder and upper arm
1
6.5
Muscles on each side of the chest that help move the arms
A large muscle on each side of the chest that helps move the upper arm
A large chest muscle that helps move the arm toward the body and turn it
A large chest muscle that pulls the arm toward the body and turns it inward
A large chest muscle that pulls the arm toward the body and turns it inward
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a regular adjective+noun composition: 'pectoral' (relating to the chest) combined with 'muscle' (body tissue that produces movement) yields the straightforward meaning 'chest muscle.' The composition follows standard English morphology and has clear parallels in other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The noun pectoral muscle comes from a word meaning 'chest' and names the large muscles at the front of the body. The two big pectoral muscles sit on the 'chest' and help move the shoulder and arm, so the name tells where they are and what they do.