| 释义 |
thorax|ˈθɔəræks|
Pl. ˈthoraxes (rare), or in L. form thoraces |θɒˈreɪsiːz|.
[a. L. thōrāx, a. Gr. θώραξ breast-plate, cuirass, also breast, chest.]
1. Anat. and Zool. That part of the body of a mammal between the neck and the abdomen, comprising the cavity enclosed by the ribs, breastbone, and dorsal vertebræ, and containing the chief organs of circulation and respiration; the chest; also the corresponding part in the lower vertebrates, as birds, serpents, and fishes.
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 161 Thorax is maad of .vij. boonys & euery boon at þe eende is cartilaginosum. 1548–77Vicary Anat. vii. (1888) 54 The Brest or Thorax is the Arke or Chest of the spiritual members of man. 1653H. More Antid. Ath. ii. xii. §5 Enlarging the Thorax, that the Lungs may have play. 1692Locke Educ. (1693) 12 The Thorax, wherein is placed the Heart and Seat of Life. 1704F. Fuller Med. Gymn. (1711) 7 Laughing..proves so beneficial by the playing of the Muscles of the Thorax. 1855Holden Human Osteol. (1878) 228 The Thorax is the framework which contains the heart and lungs.
2. Zool. The middle region of the body of an arthropod, between the head and the abdomen.
In insects, the thorax consists of three somites, the prothorax, mesothorax, and metathorax, and bears the legs, and wings if any exist. In arachnids and some crustaceans, the thorax is joined to the head, forming the cephalothorax.
1750Phil. Trans. XLVII. viii. 40 The thorax drops its breast-plate, and then the legs quit their crustaceous coverings. 1842Brande Dict. Sc., etc., Thorax, the second segment of insects is so called by Latreille and Audouin; the term is restricted to the upper surface of the trunk by Linné and Fabricius. 1868Duncan tr. Figuier's Insect World Introd. 7 The thorax, the second primary division of the body of insects, plays almost as important a part as the head. 1888Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 491 A head region..either remains distinct..or becomes continuous with a part or whole of the thorax, forming a cephalo-thorax... A thorax is not marked off in the Myriapoda.
‖3. Gr. Antiq. A cuirass, corselet: see quots.
1842Brande Dict. Sc., etc., Thorax, in Grecian Antiquities, a piece of defensive armour consisting of two parts, one defending the back, and the other the belly; called lorica by the Romans. 1845C. H. Smith in Kitto's Cycl. Bibl. Lit. s.v. Arms, In Egypt..a more ancient national form [of cuirass] was a kind of thorax, tippet, shereyon, or square, with an opening in it for the head, the four points covering the breast, back, and both upper arms. 1857Birch Anc. Pottery (1858) I. 410 They wear Corinthian helmets, often crested; thoraces, or breast-plates, under which is a tunic, and greaves.
Hence thoraxed |ˈθɔərækst| a., having a thorax (of a specified kind).
1907Nation 24 Aug. 923/1 The yellow-thoraxed species [of insects]. |