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axillary

[ak-suh-ler-ee]
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adjective
  1. Anatomy, Ornithology. pertaining to the axilla.
  2. Botany. pertaining to or growing from the axil.
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noun, plural ax·il·lar·ies.
  1. Ornithology. axillar.
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Origin of axillary

First recorded in 1605–15; axill(a) + -ary
Related formsin·ter·ax·il·lar·y, adjectivepost·ax·il·lar·y, adjectivesu·per·ax·il·lar·y, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for axillary

Historical Examples

  • Flowers greenish-yellow, axillary, solitary; peduncle not curved.

    The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines

    T. H. Pardo de Tavera

  • The axillary branches in like manner showed traces of cleavage.

    Vegetable Teratology

    Maxwell T. Masters

  • Even later than this is the growth of the axillary and pubic hair.

  • The flowers are in axillary cymes, and the fruit is a berry.

    The Sea Shore

    William S. Furneaux

  • Its stem is also more freely branched, and its flowers are axillary and terminal.

    The Sea Shore

    William S. Furneaux

British Dictionary definitions for axillary

axillary

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or near the armpit
  2. botany growing in or related to the axilan axillary bud
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noun plural -laries
  1. Also called: axillar (ækˈsɪlə, ˈæksɪlə) (usually plural) one of the feathers growing from the axilla of a bird's wing
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for axillary

adj.

"pertaining to the armpit or shoulder," 1610s, from Latin *axillaris, from axilla "armpit, upper arm, wing" (see axle).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
axillary in Medicine

axillary

(ăk′sə-lĕr′ē)
n.
  1. Relating to the axilla.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.