Definitions

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

  • adjective Anatomy Of, relating to, or located near the axilla.
  • adjective Botany Of, relating to, or located in an axil.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In the Crinoidea, the pentagonal plate which supports the branched arms.
  • In anatomy, pertaining to the axilla; contained in the axilla: as, the axillary boundaries; the axillary vessels.
  • In the arthropod animals, pertaining to an articulation or joint: said of parts which are attached to the point of union of two joints or other movable parts of the body.
  • In botany, pertaining to or growing from the axil (of plants). See cut under axil.
  • noun Same as axillar.

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

  • adjective (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the axilla or armpit.
  • adjective (Bot.) Situated in, or rising from, an axil; of or pertaining to an axil.

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

  • adjective Of or pertaining to the axilla or armpit; as, axillary gland, artery, nerve.
  • adjective botany Situated in, or rising from, an axil; of or pertaining to an axil.

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

  • adjective of or relating to the armpit
  • adjective of or relating to the axil

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Alteration by association with -ary of the French axillaire ("of the axilla"), itself an alteration of the earlier forms aisselliere and aissellaire, both from the assumed Latin etymon *axillāris, from axilla ("armpit"), diminutive form of the assumed *axula.

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Examples

  • From this latter point the vessels and nerves take the name axillary, and in this axillary region the relative position of the nerves and vessels to each other and to the adjacent organs is somewhat changed.

    Surgical Anatomy Joseph Maclise

  • _Flowers_ -- Yellow, about 3/4 in. broad, numerous, in short axillary clusters on the upper part of plant.

    Wild Flowers Worth Knowing Neltje Blanchan 1891

  • David H. Song, a breast-cancer surgeon and vice chairman of surgery at the University of Chicago, said for two years or more his hospital had been steering many women away from an extensive type of lymph-node surgery known as axillary lymph-node dissection.

    Doctors See Chance to Reduce Mastectomies Thomas M. Burton 2011

  • Until recently, the standard practice for this was a procedure called axillary node dissection AND, which generally removed a dozen or more lymph nodes in the armpit, often resulting in permanent arm difficulties including stiffness and lymphedema, or swelling.

    Our Bodies, Ourselves: Menopause M.D. Vivian Pinn 2006

  • Until recently, the standard practice for this was a procedure called axillary node dissection AND, which generally removed a dozen or more lymph nodes in the armpit, often resulting in permanent arm difficulties including stiffness and lymphedema, or swelling.

    Our Bodies, Ourselves: Menopause M.D. Vivian Pinn 2006

  • Until recently, the standard practice for this was a procedure called axillary node dissection AND, which generally removed a dozen or more lymph nodes in the armpit, often resulting in permanent arm difficulties including stiffness and lymphedema, or swelling.

    Our Bodies, Ourselves: Menopause M.D. Vivian Pinn 2006

  • Until recently, the standard practice for this was a procedure called axillary node dissection AND, which generally removed a dozen or more lymph nodes in the armpit, often resulting in permanent arm difficulties including stiffness and lymphedema, or swelling.

    Our Bodies, Ourselves: Menopause M.D. Vivian Pinn 2006

  • Salmonids all have a small appendage called the axillary process located at the origin of the pelvic fins on the body.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • Salmonids all have a small appendage called the axillary process located at the origin of the pelvic fins on the body.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • Salmonids all have a small appendage called the axillary process located at the origin of the pelvic fins on the body.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

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