shoulder blade

noun

plural shoulder blades

: either of a pair of large, flat, triangular-shaped bones that lie above the rib cage on either side of the upper back : scapula

a fractured shoulder blade

He has a wing-shaped tribal tattoo between his shoulder blades.

—Cliff Mehrtens

… types who didn't wash and grew hair to their shoulder blades.

—Curtis W. Casewit

Examples of shoulder blade in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The fossils include the back half of the skull, a significant portion of the spines, parts of rib, shoulder blades, and bones of the front flipper, according to the study. —Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2025

The daring elements continued with a sexy back detail that featured more jewels in between her shoulder blades before extending down into a long strap that connected to the bottom of the dress. —Starr Bowenbank, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2025

Squeeze your shoulder blades together as your arms progress to a T-shape. —Jakob Roze, Health, 8 Sep. 2025

Another common mistake people make is rounding their shoulders forward, which abducts the scapula (moves the shoulder blades apart from one another). —Jenny McCoy, SELF, 25 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for shoulder blade

• accolade
• ambuscade
• antegrade
• balustrade
• barricade
• cannonade
• cavalcade
• centigrade
• chambermaid
• colonnade
• countertrade
• disobeyed

Kids Definition

shoulder blade

noun

: the flat triangular bone of the back of the shoulder that forms a joint with the humerus of the upper arm

called also scapula

Medical Definition

shoulder blade

noun

: scapula