psoas

American  

[soh-uhs] / ˈsoʊ əs /

noun

Anatomy.

psoai, plural psoae plural

1. either of two muscles, one on each side of the loin, extending internally from the sides of the spinal column to the upper end of the femur, which assist in flexing and rotating the thigh and flexing the trunk on the pelvis.

---

psoas British  

/ ˈsəʊəs /

noun

1. either of two muscles of the loins that aid in flexing and rotating the thigh

---

Other Word Forms

• psoatic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of psoas

1675–85; < New Latin < Greek psóās, accusative plural (taken as nominative singular) of psóa a muscle of the loins

Example Sentences

One of the exercises involves lying on a psoas ball.

From Los Angeles Times • May 24, 2024

Ms Coles said the tumour has grown in her psoas muscle in the lower lumbar region of her spine.

From BBC • Feb. 15, 2022

“But I had a labral tear and my psoas muscle was almost severed due to a structural abnormality in my hip. It wasn’t pretty.”

From New York Times • Aug. 30, 2019

I’ve been under the ministrations of many physical therapists who knead and rub and press my mercurial, angry psoas.

From Salon • Jul. 26, 2015

Cause.—The muscles of the back and those of the loins proper, as the psoas, may have been injured, or again there may be trouble of a rheumatic nature, perhaps suggestive of lumbago.

From Special Report on Diseases of the Horse by Michener, Charles B.