femur
noun
fe·mur
| \ ˈfē-mər
\
\
plural femurs
or femora\ ˈfe-mə-rə
, ˈfem-rə \
, ˈfem-rə \
Definition of femur
1
: the proximal bone of the hind or lower limb that extends from the hip to the knee
— called also thighbone
2
: the segment of an insect's leg that is third from the body
Examples of femur in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
More Ancient Animals Scientists had no idea P. dmanisensis once hung out around these parts until Nikita Zelenkov, Ph.D., of the Russian Academy of Sciences, discovered a femur in Crimea. — Daisy Hernandez, Popular Mechanics, "Just a Massive Ancient Bird the Size of a Polar Bear," 28 June 2019 The femur’s shape also gives us clues about what the world was like when Pachystruthio was alive. — Emily Toomey, Smithsonian, "Fossil of Ancient Bird Three Times Bigger Than an Ostrich Found in Europe," 27 June 2019 Near the dawn of the last ice age, an enormous terrestrial bird about three times the size of a modern ostrich jogged across eastern Europe, according to a fossil femur recently found in Crimea. — Mindy Weisberger, Scientific American, "Extinct 11-Foot “Super-Ostrich” Was As Massive As a Polar Bear," 27 June 2019 The lawsuit also alleges a patient died three months after his surgery at Porter in 2017 for a fractured femur. — Jessica Seaman, The Denver Post, "At least one death, “hundreds of severe infections” linked to Porter hospital’s use of contaminated surgical instruments, lawsuit alleges," 16 June 2019 The researchers examined the circumference of the femur to determine the giant bird's weight: nearly a whopping 1,000 pounds, equivalent to an adult male polar bear. — Daisy Hernandez, Popular Mechanics, "Just a Massive Ancient Bird the Size of a Polar Bear," 28 June 2019 Based on these distinctions, the team tentatively classified the femur as belonging to the flightless giant bird Pachystruthio dmanisensis. — Emily Toomey, Smithsonian, "Fossil of Ancient Bird Three Times Bigger Than an Ostrich Found in Europe," 27 June 2019 Hall, 31, suffered a wound to the left leg that fractured his femur. — oregonlive.com, "Man shot by friend in downtown Portland parking lot pleads guilty to being a felon with a gun," 26 June 2019 The intactness of the femur also allowed the scientists to estimate the height and weight of the bird based on the bone length. — Jenny Howard, National Geographic, "12-foot bird lived alongside early human relatives, fossils reveal," 26 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'femur.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for femur
femur
noun
English Language Learners Definition of femur
medical
: the long bone in the upper part of the leg
See the full definition for femur in the English Language Learners Dictionary
femur
noun
fe·mur
| \ ˈfē-mər
\
\
plural femurs
or femora\ ˈfe-mə-rə \
Kids Definition of femur
: the long leg bone that extends from the hip to the knee
femur
noun
fe·mur
| \ ˈfē-mər
\
\
plural femurs
or femora\ ˈfem-(ə-)rə
\
\
Medical Definition of femur
1
: the proximal bone of the hind or lower limb that is the longest and largest bone in the human body, extends from the hip to the knee, articulates above with the acetabulum by a rounded head connected with the shaft of the bone by an oblique neck bearing a pair of trochanters for the attachment of muscles, and articulates with the tibia below by a pair of condyles
— called also thigh bone
2
: the segment of an insect's leg that is third from the body
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