noun
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Technical name: axilla. the small depression beneath the arm where it joins the shoulder
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slang an extremely unpleasant place
the armpit of the Mediterranean
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of armpit
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English; arm 1 + pit 1 ( def. )
Explanation
Your armpit is the area underneath your upper arm, where it connects to your shoulder. Armpits tend to be smelly, so we would advise to steer clear of an open armpit on a bus or subway. Another common word for armpit is "underarm," while the official anatomical term is axilla. Perhaps because your armpits tend to get sweaty and a little smelly after you exercise, the word armpit is sometimes used as a derogatory term for an unattractive place: "That city is so ugly it's the armpit of New Jersey." Before armpit, the axilla was known as an arm-hole.
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.
See Examples For:
The main symptoms of breast cancer in women may include a lump, or swelling in your breast, chest or armpit, the NHS website says, external.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
“He lived in Bakersfield, which is the armpit of California,” Hankel says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 11, 2025
Symptoms include lumps in chest, breast or armpit, changes in the shape of breast, redness, rashes or texture changes and any pain that does not go away.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2025
When Gustave Flaubert saw Antonio Canova’s sculpture “Eros and Psyche” in 1845, he surreptitiously kissed Psyche’s marble armpit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
One has a giant hole in the armpit.
From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez
You’re either stuck to a vinyl-clad seat or grabbing up for a handrail and trying to direct your face away from the armpits to your left and right.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
I felt my armpits dampen when my boss called me into his office.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
And what most people remember about their performance is that Paula Cole didn’t shave her armpits, resulting in months of fodder for late-night comedians.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2025
A well-known deodorant brand has apologised after some of its roll-on products reportedly left customers with itchy, burning armpits.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2025
Walter kneels, puts his hands under Camel’s armpits, and lifts him into a sitting position.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
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.
