psoas

American  

[soh-uhs] / ˈsoʊ əs /

noun

Anatomy.

plural

psoai, psoae

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.

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psoas British  

/ ˈsəʊəs /

noun

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

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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

Hyperæsthesia developed in more than one case in which injury to the psoas had led to hæmorrhage into the muscle sheath.

From Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900 Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small Calibre by Makins, George Henry