pectoral

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“
An elaborate pectoral, a masterpiece of jewelry making, contains a rare, yellow-green glass stone carved in the shape of a scarab beetle that some scientists believe to be a fragment of an ancient meteorite.

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Definitions (38)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. adjective Relating to or situated in the breast or chest: a pectoral muscle; the pectoral cavity.
  2. adjective Useful in relieving disorders of the chest or respiratory tract.
  3. adjective Worn on the chest or breast: a pectoral cross.
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Examples (50)

  • They have expanded pectoral-fin rays so they can glide for several seconds above the water. —  Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, February 2005
  • Those same formidable fingernails, now tinted pearly pink for comedy's sake, touched the telltale bulge of cartilage just above the cheesy gilt pectoral (Ancient Egyptian kitsch-on-a-budget R Us). —  F ;SF; - vol 092 issue 05 - May 1997
  • Birds' sternums are a great deal more than surfaces of origin for the pectoral muscles—e.g. —  The Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley Volume 3
  • An elaborate pectoral, a masterpiece of jewelry making, contains a rare, yellow-green glass stone carved in the shape of a scarab beetle that some scientists believe to be a fragment of an ancient meteorite. —  San Francisco Sentinel
  • Backup cornerback Scott Starks (pectoral) was listed as questionable. —  - Latest Popular Stories, Instablogs Community
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Probably Latin pectorālis, from pectus, pector-, breast. N., sense 4, Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pectorāle, breastplate, from neuter of pectorālis.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. I. adjective = F. Spanish pectoral = Portuguese peitoral = Italian pettorale, from Latin pectoralis, pertaining to the breast, from pectus (pector-), the breast, the breast-bone. II. n. from Late Latin pectorale, a breastplate, neuter of pectoralis, adjective Hence ult. poitrel.
 

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/ˈpɛktərəl/
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