Illustration of rhomboid
rhom·boid
ˈräm-ˌbȯid 
: a parallelogram with no right angles and with adjacent sides of unequal length
Did you know?
Rhomboids, like triangles, may take various different shapes, but they always look like a lopsided diamond or rectangle. As both a noun and an adjective, rhomboid can be applied to anything with those shapes, such as certain muscles of the upper back when viewed from behind. Whenever you hear about rhomboid exercises, rhomboid strain, or rhomboid pain, it involves those muscles, which attach your shoulder blades to your spine and can be strained by carrying a heavy backpack, serving a tennis ball, or just slumping in your chair in front of a computer all day.
Examples of rhomboid in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Christa Sgobba, SELF, 6 Jan. 2025
And there are also the ones that attach to the scapula (shoulder blades), including your rhomboids and trapezius.
—Elizabeth Millard, Cpt, SELF, 19 Nov. 2024
This move primarily works your lats, rhomboids, and traps, plus your core, biceps, and deltoids.
—Amy Marturana Winderl, SELF, 9 Oct. 2024
More specifically, upper-body pull moves often work the lats (your broadest back muscle), traps (upper back and neck muscles), rear delts (a shoulder muscle), and rhomboids (upper back muscles), Williams says.
—Christa Sgobba, SELF, 25 Apr. 2024
These include your latissimus dorsi (lats, the broadest of your back muscles), rear deltoids (a shoulder muscle), rhomboids (upper back muscles), and biceps (upper arm muscles).
—Jenny McCoy, SELF, 17 Jan. 2024
On the other hand, pulling exercises target the back of your body, like your lats, lower traps, and rhomboids, while your biceps help it along.
—Amy Marturana Winderl, SELF, 19 Dec. 2023
At the same time, a new generation of tanks had replaced the slow, clumsy rhomboids and toy-like vehicles of World War I.
—Popular Mechanics, 17 Aug. 2023
To avoid that, tighten both your lats and rhomboids.
—Men's Health, 11 July 2023
Jakob Roze, Health, 17 Dec. 2024
Rowing with heavier loads elicits more muscle growth in your middle and lower traps, rhomboid major, rhomboid minor, upper traps, rear deltoids, and rotator cuff muscles.
—Tony Gentilcore, Men's Health, 30 Nov. 2022
Rest is the initial plan for outfielder Max Kepler, who missed much of September because of a rhomboid strain — although Falvey said that Kepler will see a specialist.
—Betsy Helfand, Twin Cities, 9 Oct. 2019
McIlroy said the injury is to a rhomboid muscle on the left side of his body.
—Rick Bonnell, charlotteobserver, 13 Aug. 2017
McIlroy, 28, punctuated a quiet week with a 68, his first sub-70 round of the tournament, and then said a lingering rib injury — a spasming left rhomboid muscle, to be precise — could sideline him indefinitely.
—Karen Crouse, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2017
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
Compare a row—where your lats, rhomboids, and biceps are working—to a biceps curl, which, as its name suggests, zeros in on only the muscles in the top of your upper arms.
—Christa Sgobba, SELF, 6 Jan. 2025
And there are also the ones that attach to the scapula (shoulder blades), including your rhomboids and trapezius.
—Elizabeth Millard, Cpt, SELF, 19 Nov. 2024
This move primarily works your lats, rhomboids, and traps, plus your core, biceps, and deltoids.
—Amy Marturana Winderl, SELF, 9 Oct. 2024
More specifically, upper-body pull moves often work the lats (your broadest back muscle), traps (upper back and neck muscles), rear delts (a shoulder muscle), and rhomboids (upper back muscles), Williams says.
—Christa Sgobba, SELF, 25 Apr. 2024
These include your latissimus dorsi (lats, the broadest of your back muscles), rear deltoids (a shoulder muscle), rhomboids (upper back muscles), and biceps (upper arm muscles).
—Jenny McCoy, SELF, 17 Jan. 2024
On the other hand, pulling exercises target the back of your body, like your lats, lower traps, and rhomboids, while your biceps help it along.
—Amy Marturana Winderl, SELF, 19 Dec. 2023
At the same time, a new generation of tanks had replaced the slow, clumsy rhomboids and toy-like vehicles of World War I.
—Popular Mechanics, 17 Aug. 2023
To avoid that, tighten both your lats and rhomboids.
—Men's Health, 11 July 2023
Adjective
Face Pulls Face pulls target your upper back muscles, including your rhomboid muscles, while reducing tension in your upper trapezius muscles.
—Jakob Roze, Health, 17 Dec. 2024
Rowing with heavier loads elicits more muscle growth in your middle and lower traps, rhomboid major, rhomboid minor, upper traps, rear deltoids, and rotator cuff muscles.
—Tony Gentilcore, Men's Health, 30 Nov. 2022
Rest is the initial plan for outfielder Max Kepler, who missed much of September because of a rhomboid strain — although Falvey said that Kepler will see a specialist.
—Betsy Helfand, Twin Cities, 9 Oct. 2019
McIlroy said the injury is to a rhomboid muscle on the left side of his body.
—Rick Bonnell, charlotteobserver, 13 Aug. 2017
McIlroy, 28, punctuated a quiet week with a 68, his first sub-70 round of the tournament, and then said a lingering rib injury — a spasming left rhomboid muscle, to be precise — could sideline him indefinitely.
—Karen Crouse, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Rhomboid.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rhomboid. Accessed 25 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share