Meaning & use
flexor
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountabletechnical
A muscle that bends a joint or pulls a body part inward.
Grammar: Countable: you can talk about one flexor or several flexors, and it is often used before another noun, as in flexor muscle.
Patterns
- the flexor muscles
- a flexor of the wrist
- flexor and extensor muscles
The flexor muscles in your forearm let you curl your fingers into a fist.
She pulled a flexor in her thigh while sprinting and could not straighten her leg properly.
Doctors tested the flexors of his hand after the injury.
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Relating to a muscle or tendon that bends a part of the body.
Grammar: Used only before a noun, as in flexor tendon; it is not used after a verb.
Patterns
- flexor tendon
- flexor muscle
- flexor surface
He needed surgery on a flexor tendon in his little finger.
The flexor muscles of the forearm are deeper than the ones you can see.
Word forms
| plural | flexors |
|---|
Common combinations
- flexor muscle
- The flexor muscles of the forearm are used constantly when you type.
- flexor tendon
- A cut to the flexor tendon can make the finger impossible to bend.
- hip flexor
- Runners often stretch their hip flexors before a race.
- flexor and extensor
- The flexor and extensor muscles work as a pair to move the joint.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bender
- Very informal and rare for a muscle; it fits only in casual speech, not in medical writing.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: flexor or flexer?
flexor vs flexer
Flexer is not a standard anatomy word; it can appear as a slang term or a brand name. For the muscle, always write flexor.
Practice
Which sentence uses "flexor" correctly?
Choose one answer.
A flexor bends a joint, so bending the fingers is right. Option 1 describes an extensor, option 2 uses flexor as a verb (the verb is flex), and option 3 is nonsense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “flexor”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.