- either of two muscles on each side of the upper and anterior part of the thorax, the action of the larger (pectoralis major) assisting in drawing the shoulder forward and rotating the arm inward, and the action of the smaller (pectoralis minor) assisting in drawing the shoulder downward and forward.
Origin of pectoralis
Examples from the Web for pectoralis
Historical Examples of pectoralis
A closely allied form occurs in Alaska, and has been named Dallia pectoralis, Bean.The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Volume I and Volume II
The aneurism was of the third part of the axillary artery, and a ligature was applied at the lower margin of the pectoralis minor.Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900
George Henry Makins
The clavicular portion of the pectoralis major must then be divided right across its fibres, which will retract.A Manual of the Operations of Surgery
The pectoralis transversus and other muscles were found to harbour a considerable number of encysted Trichin.
The bolus consisted of a portion of the pectoralis major of a subject brought to the dissecting-room at the Middlesex Hospital.