solar plexus
Americannoun
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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.
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a point on the stomach wall, just below the sternum, where a blow will affect this nerve center.
noun
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Also called: coeliac plexus. anatomy the network of sympathetic nerves situated behind the stomach that supply the abdominal organs
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(not in technical usage) the part of the stomach beneath the diaphragm; pit of the stomach
Etymology
Origin of solar plexus
First recorded in 1765–75; so called from the raylike pattern of the nerve fibers
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.
“It’s like a gut punch into the solar plexus — takes the wind out of you,” coach Jim Harbaugh said.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 8, 2025
Once teams are hit in the solar plexus with a loss as sudden and devastating as Tuesday’s — and they’re rare — it’s really, really hard to bounce back.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 12, 2022
As the father of two teenagers, that hit me right in the solar plexus.
From Salon • Jun. 5, 2022
"Butler does a reasonably good impersonation of Elvis's sultry velvet drawl. Yet his resemblance to Elvis never quite hits you in the solar plexus."
From BBC • May 26, 2022
I can feel that cough stirring in me solar plexus an’ workin’ its way up through me entrails till the next thing it takes off the top o’ me head.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
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.
