pollex

[ pol-eks ]

noun,plural pol·li·ces [pol-uh-seez]. /ˈpɒl əˌsiz/.
  1. the innermost digit of the forelimb; thumb.

Origin of pollex

1
Borrowed into English from Latin around 1825–35

Words Nearby pollex

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pollex in a sentence

  • Paltroon is from pollex, a thumb, and truncare, to cut off; for cowards use to cut their thumbs to avoid service.

  • In the anterior limb the radius and the pollex are pre-axial, the ulna and the fifth finger are postaxial.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
  • The posterior limb is, as a rule, pentedactylate, but in nearly every case the pollex is vestigial or absent.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
  • The hand consists of four complete digits, and a vestigial pollex reduced to a short metacarpal.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
  • The first digit or pollex includes two phalanges, the distal one being very small and bearing a claw.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds

British Dictionary definitions for pollex

pollex

/ (ˈpɒlɛks) /


nounplural -lices (-lɪˌsiːz)
  1. the first digit of the forelimb of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, such as the thumb of man and other primates

Origin of pollex

1
C19: from Latin: thumb, big toe

Derived forms of pollex

  • pollical (ˈpɒlɪkəl), adjective

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