loin
Americannoun
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Usually loins. the part or parts of the human body or of a quadruped animal on either side of the spinal column, between the false ribs and hipbone.
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a cut of meat from this region of an animal, especially a portion including the vertebrae of such parts.
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loins,
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the parts of the body between the hips and the lower ribs, especially regarded as the seat of physical strength and generative power.
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the genital and pubic area; genitalia.
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idioms
noun
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Also called: lumbus. anatomy the part of the lower back and sides between the pelvis and the ribs
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a cut of meat from this part of an animal
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of loin
1275–1325; Middle English loyne < Middle French lo ( i ) gne, perhaps < Vulgar Latin *lumbea, noun use of feminine of *lumbeus of the loins, equivalent to Latin lumb ( us ) loin + -eus -eous
Explanation
Your loin is the part of your body just above your hip, but below your rib cage. A low-slung belt hangs more or less along your loin. Loin often refers generally to a person's body below their ribs, though rarely by doctors (who like to get more specific). At the butcher, though, it means a particular cut of meat, usually beef or pork, from an animal's low back and side. This is the earliest meaning of the word, which comes from the Old French loigne, "hip or haunch." In the Bible, loin means "part of the body that should be covered with clothing."
Vocabulary lists containing loin
Vocabulary from Readings 1, Unit 5
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Selection Vocabulary 3, Unit 4
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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.
That black and white goat, he said, was named Loin.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2024
Loin chops are similar to rib chops, but they're cut from the "saddle" part of the loin, farther down the spine.
From Salon • Mar. 16, 2021
Loin pain hematuria syndrome, Sollinger said in an email, is believed to originate in the ureter where repeated spasms cause pain he likened to “continually passing a kidney stone.”
From Washington Post • Oct. 23, 2020
The Weary Kind, sung by Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart is also nominated, along with Loin de Paname from French movie Paris 36.
From BBC • Feb. 18, 2010
Pork, Loin Of.—Score it, and joint it, that the chops may separate easily; and then roast it as a loin of mutton.
From Burroughs' Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889 by Burroughs, Barkham
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.
