lat

1 of 3

noun

ˈlat 

plural lats

informal

: a broad, flat muscle of the middle and lower back : latissimus dorsi

—usually plural

… stretch your lats by straightening your arms and slightly rotating your scapulae outward.

—Mike Soohey

lat

2 of 3

abbreviation (1)

latitude

LAT

3 of 3

abbreviation (2)

local apparent time

Examples of lat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The moves came less than 24 hours after the Twins bolstered the bullpen by trading for Minter, a steady lefty who should help mitigate the loss of Anthony Banda, who underwent season-ending surgery after tearing his lat muscle on June 28. — Dan Hayes, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2026

The pole went through his lat muscle, with about 8 inches of space between the two wounds, Ross wrote on the fundraiser page. — Anthony Thompson, USA Today, 28 July 2026

The Red Sox shut him down with lat tightness the following Sunday. — Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 22 July 2026

In the bell, Holzinger’s previously compact torso becomes long and androgynous, her arms and lats titanic. — Lauren Oyler, New Yorker, 20 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1939, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing lat

• lat pulldown

Rhymes for lat

• aught
• baht
• blot
• bott
• bought
• brought
• caught
• clot
• cot
• cott
• dot
• fought

Medical Definition

lat

noun

ˈlat 

: latissimus dorsi

—usually used in plural