solar plexus
- Also called celiac plexus. Anatomy. a network of nerves situated at the upper part of the abdomen, behind the stomach and in front of the aorta.
- a point on the stomach wall, just below the sternum, where a blow will affect this nerve center.
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Origin of solar plexus
First recorded in 1765–75; so called from the raylike pattern of the nerve fibers
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for solar plexus
Historical Examples
This I applied over the solar-plexus and to the anterior surface of his body.
Lincoln's Last HoursCharles A. Leale
And then, "Chance blow in the solar-plexus," someone was saying.
Paradise GardenGeorge Gibbs
"It's a solar-plexus retort, just the same," said Carraway, as he shook his head and went to bed.
The Booming of Acre HillJohn Kendrick Bangs
Knocked 'is wind out, you 'ave. Struck 'im bang in the solar-plexus, blowed if you didn't!
Adventures of BindleHerbert George Jenkins
When Mrs. B. gets 'old of a broom, or a mop, the safest thing to do is to draw in your solar-plexus an' run.
Mrs. BindleHebert Jenkins
solar plexus
- Also called: coeliac plexus anatomy the network of sympathetic nerves situated behind the stomach that supply the abdominal organs
- (not in technical usage) the part of the stomach beneath the diaphragm; pit of the stomach
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Word Origin
C18: referring to resemblance between the radial network of nerves and ganglia and the rays of the sun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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solar plexus
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.