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extensor

noun

Simple meaning

A skeletal muscle whose contraction extends or stretches a body part.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihkstehnser

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪksˈtɛnsɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. anatomy

    A skeletal muscle whose contraction extends or stretches a body part

  2. anatomy

    A muscle whose contraction extends or straightens a limb or body part.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Rare

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

This meaning: A skeletal muscle whose contraction extends or stretches a body part

Used this way, extensor is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Clinical and technical
Usage feel
Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

  • Medicine/healthcare
  • Science
  • Technical/specialist writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Nearby words

  • extensor muscle , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

extensor muscleextensor tendonextensor mechanismcommon extensorlong extensordigital extensorextensor surfaceknee extensor

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • extensiveadjectiveDerived adjective

    Related to A skeletal muscle whose contraction extends or stretches a body part.

  • extensibleadjectiveDerived adjective

    Capable of being protruded or stretched or opened out.

  • extensivelyadverbDerived adverb

    In a widespread way.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • extensor musclenounCompound term

    A skeletal muscle whose contraction extends or stretches a body part.

  • leg extensornounCompound term

    An exercise designed to strengthen the extensor muscles of the leg.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: skeletal muscle whose contraction extends

extensor muscleRare

Antonyms

Sense: skeletal muscle whose contraction extends

flexor muscleRareflexor

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.