1. any of four pairs of muscles extending from the cervical vertebrae to the second rib; involved in moving the neck and in breathing; [syn: scalenus, scalene muscle, musculus scalenus]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
musculus scalenus
n 1: any of four pairs of muscles extending from the cervical
vertebrae to the second rib; involved in moving the neck
and in breathing [syn: scalenus, scalene muscle,
musculus scalenus]