intercostal
Americanadjective
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pertaining to muscles, parts, or intervals between the ribs.
-
situated between the ribs.
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Shipbuilding. noting a structural member situated between or divided by continuous members, as frames or keelsons.
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of intercostal
From the New Latin word intercostālis, dating back to 1590–1600. See inter-, costal
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.
He won Thursday's match at Flushing Meadows, New York against Russian player Karen Khachanov, ranked ninth in the world, but retired from a later match - saying he had torn an intercostal muscle.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2025
After feeling his side cramp up in the Dodgers’ decisive Game 5 win over the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series, doctors determined he had injured his intercostal muscle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2025
In a field hospital in Al Mamoura, Dr. Mohamed Karrar improvised an intercostal drain system using a sterilized soda bottle to pump the blood from a gunshot victim’s punctured lung.
From New York Times ● Apr. 30, 2023
Center Joel Embiid sat out the game for the Sixers, as did Montrezl Harrell, suffering from an intercostal strain.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 10, 2022
In the more posterior intercostal spaces these muscles are poorly developed, but they become progressively better developed anteriorly, and are fully represented in the most anterior intercostal spaces.
From Thoracic and Coracoid Arteries In Two Families of Birds, Columbidae and Hirundinidae by Jenkinson, Marion Anne
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.
