Trend Watch

Oblique

After two baseball players injured theirs during the playoffs ...

When:

Lookups spiked on October 11, 2011.

Why:

Detroit Tigers sluggers Delmon Young and Victor Martinez both injured their oblique muscles during the playoffs.

For example, as the website of The Detroit News reported: "Oblique strain puts Delmon Young on shelf."

Obliques or oblique muscles form the thin flat outer layer of muscles on the sides of the abdomen. Quick rotation of the upper body - for example when hitting or throwing a baseball - can injure these muscles, which can take days or weeks to heal.

Oblique comes to English from the Latin word meaning "lying across or at an angle."

Photo credit: Ferguson / flickr


Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!