thoracic

[ thaw-ras-ik, thoh- ]

/ θɔˈræs ɪk, θoʊ- /

Save This Word!

adjective

of or relating to the thorax.

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Also tho·ra·cal

[thawr-uh-kuhl, thohr-]. /ˈθɔr ə kəl, ˈθoʊr-/.

Origin of thoracic

1650–60; <Medieval Latin thōrācicus<Greek thōrākikós.See thorac-, -ic

OTHER WORDS FROM thoracic

non·tho·rac·ic, adjectivepost·tho·rac·ic, adjectivepre·tho·rac·ic, adjectivesub·tho·ra·cal, adjective

sub·tho·rac·ic, adjectivetrans·tho·rac·ic, adjective

Words nearby thoracic

thonder, thong, Thor, thorac-, thoracentesis, thoracic, thoracic artery, thoracic duct, thoraco-, thoracoplasty, thoracoscope

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

How to use thoracic in a sentence

The scientists homed in on an area in the mid-back, just around thoracic segment 11 in the human spine.
Spinal stimulation gives some people with paralysis more freedom|Laura Sanders|August 3, 2022|Science News
Initially, what we knew about Issa’s spine came from lower thoracic vertebrae, lower lumbar vertebrae, and a partial pelvis.
Human ancestors had backbones that supported effortless walking and climbing|Scott A. Williams/The Conversation|December 6, 2021|Popular-Science
That’s because he dealt with a stress fracture in his arm, a procedure for thoracic outlet syndrome and another to relocate a pinched nerve in his elbow.
After big moves at trade deadline, Nationals’ waiver claims show a shift in their thinking|Jesse Dougherty|August 24, 2021|Washington Post
For a double lung transplant, patients “will stay about three weeks in hospital if everything goes well,” says Ankit Bharat, chief of thoracic surgery at Northwestern Medicine.
Demand for Covid-19 lung transplants is about to shoot up|Katherine Ellen Foley|October 16, 2020|Quartz

Back home, he became the chief of thoracic and vascular surgery at Harlem Hospital.
The Black and White Men Who Saved Martin Luther King’s Life|Michael Daly|January 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As a result she's had severe nerve damage in her right arm that threatened her career as a cardio-thoracic surgeon.
Inside Congo's Floating Hospital|Danielle Shapiro|March 2, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The pupa, distinguished by a large thoracic region, breathes through a pair of tubes on the thorax.
A Civic Biology|George William Hunter
It shows us three fairly bulky thoracic ganglia, arranged in the same manner as the legs.
More Hunting Wasps|J. Henri Fabre
The remainder of the thoracic surface is covered with a tough breast-plate which the sting would perhaps fail to perforate.
More Hunting Wasps|J. Henri Fabre
The Two-banded Scolia stings a little lower down, on the line of demarcation between the first two thoracic segments.
More Hunting Wasps|J. Henri Fabre
M. Latreille is of opinion, That the four wings or their representatives replace the four thoracic legs of the decapod Crustacea.
An Introduction to Entomology: Vol. III (of 4)|William Kirby

British Dictionary definitions for thoracic

thoracic

/ (θɔːˈræsɪk) /

adjective

of, near, or relating to the thorax

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

Scientific definitions for thoracic

thoracic

[ thə-răs′ĭk ]

Relating to or located in or near the thorax.