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fe·mur | \ ˈfē-mər 
\
\ plural femurs or femora\ ˈfe-mə-rə , ˈfem-rə \
, ˈfem-rə \Definition of femur
1 : the proximal bone of the hind or lower limb that extends from the hip to the knee
— called also thighbone
2 : the segment of an insect's leg that is third from the body
Examples of femur in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web The bones also included a right thighbone (femur) and hipbone (ischium), a right arm, and part of a lower right jaw and a few teeth.
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Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, "Anthropologists describe the first skeleton of a Homo naledi child," 10 Apr. 2020 Meanwhile, the epiphyses on the ischium and the ends of the femur and shin bone (tibia) were well-developed but hadn’t yet fused—in other words, DH7 wasn’t a very young child but was definitely still growing.
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Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, "Anthropologists describe the first skeleton of a Homo naledi child," 10 Apr. 2020 Tribology’s applications now extend beyond the realm of mechanics: Biotribology, for example, might investigate replacing the body’s natural ball-and-socket hip joint with a smooth metallic ball at the head of the femur.
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Adrienne Bernhard, Popular Mechanics, "How the Obscure Science of Rubbing Built the Past and Will Shape the Future," 7 Apr. 2020 But a close analysis of the rounded head of the femur revealed that their hips were carrying weight differently and much more ape-like by hanging out in trees.
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Ashley Strickland, CNN, "Ancient humans are having a moment. Here are the fascinating new things we've learned this week about our ancestors," 2 Apr. 2020 Lynch was severely injured when she was hit head-on on a Minnesota freeway, shattering her femurs and thigh bones.
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Octavia Akoulitchev, PEOPLE.com, "Kelly Lynch Reveals How Almost Losing Her Legs Makes Her Live Each Day Like It Is a 'Gift'," 19 Sep. 2019 This forced McMillan to use a small backcourt of McConnell and Aaron Holiday minus Oladipo, Brogdon and Jeremy Lamb being out for the season (left ACL tear/femur fracture).
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J. Michael, Indianapolis Star, "Indiana Pacers lose Malcolm Brogdon to injury and see win streak end vs. Milwaukee Bucks," 5 Mar. 2020 His foot, full of nerves still fried from when the bullet shattered his femur, is aching.
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Caroline Anders, Indianapolis Star, "6 gunshots, 5 surgeries, weeks of rehab: An Indianapolis teen struggles to return to class," 9 Mar. 2020 The femur bone is over six feet long and is thought to have belonged to a sauropod -- a subgroup of herbivorous, long-necked and four-legged dinosaurs common in the Jurassic era.
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Leah Asmelash And Brian Ries, CNN, "New bone, who dis? Paleontologists say this femur belongs to one of the biggest dinosaurs of all time," 26 July 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'femur.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for femur
femur
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of femur
medical : the long bone in the upper part of the leg
See the full definition for femur in the English Language Learners Dictionary
femur
nounfe·mur | \ ˈfē-mər \
\ plural femurs or femora\ ˈfe-mə-rə \
Kids Definition of femur
: the long leg bone that extends from the hip to the knee
femur
nounfe·mur | \ ˈfē-mər \
\ plural femurs or femora\ ˈfem-(ə-)rə \
\Medical Definition of femur
1 : the proximal bone of the hind or lower limb that is the longest and largest bone in the human body, extends from the hip to the knee, articulates above with the acetabulum by a rounded head connected with the shaft of the bone by an oblique neck bearing a pair of trochanters for the attachment of muscles, and articulates with the tibia below by a pair of condyles
— called also thigh bone
2 : the segment of an insect's leg that is third from the body
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Time Traveler for femur
The first known use of femur was circa 1726
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