Meaning & use
femur
Last updated
UK/ˈfiːmə/
US/ˈfiːmər/
Meaning
nouncountabletechnicalmedical
The long bone in the upper leg that goes from the hip to the knee; the thigh bone.
Grammar: Countable; use 'a femur' or 'femurs'.
Patterns
- a femur
- the femur
- femurs
The femur is the longest bone in the human body.
She broke her femur in a skiing accident.
The doctor examined the X-ray of the femur.
Word forms
| plural | femurs |
|---|
Common combinations
- fracture a femur
- He fractured his femur playing football.
- femur fracture
- A femur fracture requires immediate medical attention.
- head of the femur
- The head of the femur fits into the hip socket.
- femur length
- Femur length is measured during pregnancy ultrasound.
Synonyms and how they differ
- thigh bone
- Everyday term; 'femur' is the technical and medical word.
Word family
- femoral adjective
- Relating to the femur, as in 'femoral artery'.
Commonly confused: femur or humerus? femur or tibia?
femur vs humerus
The humerus is the upper arm bone, not the thigh bone.
femur vs tibia
The tibia is the shin bone, the lower leg bone below the knee.
Practice
Which bone is the femur?
Choose one answer.
The femur is the thigh bone, the long bone from hip to knee. The upper arm bone is the humerus, the shin bone is the tibia, and the collarbone is the clavicle.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “femur”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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