adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   One of a group of fishes having the ventral fins placed beneath the thorax or beneath the pectoral fins.

Adjective

1. 1
   Of the thorax. not-comparable

   "Those wings were powered by massive thoracic muscles—muscles no longer needed by a flightless queen."

Adjective

1. 1
   of or relating to the chest or thorax wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

mammalianpectoralpectoral

Example

More examples

"The lungs are situated in the thoracic cage."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek θωρακικός (thōrakikós, “suffering in the chest, of the thorax”), from θώραξ (thṓrax, “thorax”).

Related phrases

thoracic cagethoracic cavitythoracic ductthoracic ganglionthoracic insufficiency syndromethoracic outlet syndromethoracic vertebrathoracic wall

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.