Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The portion of the human leg between the hip and the knee.
  • noun The corresponding part of the hind leg of a quadruped or other vertebrate animal.
  • noun The second segment of a bird's leg, containing the tibia and fibula.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun That part of the leg which is between the hip and the knee in man, and the corresponding part of the hind limb of other animals; the femoral region, determined by the extent of the thigh-bone or femur; the femur.
  • noun In ornithology: The flank, or the feathers overlying this region of the body, corresponding to the thigh proper, which is deeply buried in the common integument of the body.
  • noun Loosely, the next joint of the leg; the crus; the drumstick: especially said when the feathers of this part are conspicuous in length or in color, as the “flag” of a hawk.
  • noun In entomology, the third joint or segment of any one of the six or eight legs of a true insect, or of an arachnidan; the femur, between the trochanter and the tibia or shank.
  • noun The lower and larger part of the stalk of a plant; the stock or trunk.
  • To carve (a pigeon or other small bird).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Anat.) The proximal segment of the hind limb between the knee and the trunk. See femur.
  • noun (Zoöl.) The coxa, or femur, of an insect.
  • noun (Anat.) the femur.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the upper joint of the leg of a fowl
  • noun the part of the leg between the hip and the knee

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English thēoh; see teuə- in Indo-European roots.]

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