The Collaborative International Dictionary
Pectoral \Pec"to*ral\ (p[e^]k"t[-o]*ral), a. [L. pectoralis, fr. pectus, -oris the breast; cf. F. pectoral.]
Of or pertaining to the breast, or chest; as, the pectoral muscles.
Relating to, or good for, diseases of the chest or lungs; as, a pectoral remedy.
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(Zo["o]l.) Having the breast conspicuously colored; as, the pectoral sandpiper.
Pectoral arch, or Pectoral girdle (Anat.), the two or more bony or cartilaginous pieces of the vertebrate skeleton to which the fore limbs are articulated; the shoulder girdle. In man it consists of two bones, the scapula and clavicle, on each side.
Pectoral cross (Eccl.), a cross worn on the breast by bishops and abbots, and sometimes also by canons.
Pectoral fins, or Pectorals (Zo["o]l.), fins situated on the sides, behind the gills. See Illust. under Fin.
Pectoral rail. (Zo["o]l.) See Land rail (b) under Land.
Pectoral sandpiper (Zo["o]l.), the jacksnipe (b) .
Wiktionary
n. (plural of pectoral fin English)
Usage examples of "pectoral fins".
Kaa took advantage, stirring water with his pectoral fins, taking the firm upright stance of an officer in the Terragens Survey Service.
A fish faced him, hanging in place with quivering motions of its pectoral fins.
He shoved his stick into the shark's jaws as if it was a bit, then flipped himself on the shark's back and wrapped the cord just behind the pectoral fins, then back to the other end of the stick so it wouldn't come out.
Brown mud skippers, their eyes atop their heads like a frog's, walked on their pectoral fins across a small mudflat that had formed around the roots of a mangrove tree.
Amy hopped up on the bow and pointed to some white spots dancing below the surface -- pectoral fins and a tail.
His flukes and pectoral fins were white and described a crystal-blue chevron in the deep blue water.
This thing was more the size of a small neighborhood convenience store, its pectoral fins spanning at least twenty meters.
So far from flopping about, gasping for breath, these fish were sitting upright, propped on their pectoral fins, looking as though the fact that they were out of water was of no concern at alt.