thigh
Americannoun
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the part of the lower limb in humans between the hip and the knee.
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the corresponding part of the hind limb of other animals; the femoral region.
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(in birds)
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the true femoral region that is hidden by the skin or feathers of the body.
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the segment below, containing the fibula and tibia.
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Entomology. the femur.
noun
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the part of the leg between the hip and the knee in man
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the corresponding part in other vertebrates and insects
Etymology
Origin of thigh
before 900; Middle English thi, thigh ( e ), the ( h ), Old English thīoh, thēoh; cognate with Dutch dij, Old High German dioh, Old Norse thjō
Explanation
Your thigh is the part of your leg between your hip and your knee. Your thighs are probably the strongest parts of your body. Humans' thighs have just one extremely strong bone, the femur, and many muscles, including the hamstrings and quadriceps. Your thigh is joined to your torsos with a ball-and-socket hip joint, and to your lower leg by the hinge joint of a knee. The word thigh comes from a Germanic source that means "the thick or fat part of the leg."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Thigh muscle scans were used to measure volume of muscle and fat.
From Science Daily • Dec. 2, 2024
The Thigh Men, she says, “would have done well to review scholarship on early American motherhood with the same amount of interest they had for military history.”
From New York Times • Apr. 29, 2020
These are slightly thinner than Thigh Society’s shorts.
From Slate • Aug. 30, 2018
Figure 11.29 Hip and Thigh Muscles The large and powerful muscles of the hip that move the femur generally originate on the pelvic girdle and insert into the femur.
From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013
When it attacks the Leg, the whole Leg swells up; and the Heat and Irritation from it is extended up to the Thigh.
From Advice to the people in general, with regard to their health by Tissot, S. A. D. (Samuel Auguste David)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
