# biceps

Pronunciation: say "BY-seps" /ˈbaɪ.sɛps/

## Noun

1. The flexor muscle of the upper arm, known anatomically as the biceps brachii, that bends the elbow.
   - Simple: The big muscle at the front of the upper arm that bends the elbow.
   - _The trainer showed her how to isolate the biceps during a curl._
   - _A torn biceps can take months to heal fully._
2. The upper arm, or especially the group of muscles in the upper arm, used loosely in informal speech. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: The upper part of the arm, or the muscles in it, in everyday casual talk.
   - _He rolled up his sleeve and tensed his biceps for the photo._
   - _Months at the gym finally gave him the biceps he wanted._
3. Any muscle that has two heads, meaning two separate points where it begins.
   - Simple: Any muscle that has two parts, called heads, joining into one.
   - _Anatomists classify any two-headed muscle as a biceps, whether in the arm or the leg._
   - _The hamstring group includes a biceps with two distinct heads._
4. A position in a metrical pattern that can be filled by either one long syllable or two short syllables.
   - Simple: A place in the rhythm of a line of poetry that can take one long syllable or two short ones.
   - _A skilled poet uses the biceps to vary the line's rhythm without breaking the meter._
   - _In the hexameter, the princeps is always a long syllable, while the biceps may be two shorts or one long._

## Origin

From Latin biceps ("double-headed, two-peaked"), formed from bis ("double") plus caput ("head").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/biceps (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).