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Definition of "flexion" [flex•ion]

  • Anatomy The act of bending a joint or limb in the body by the action of flexors. (noun)
  • Anatomy The resulting condition of being bent. (noun)
  • A part that is bent. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "flexion" in a sentence
  • "_flexion_ is usually so pronounced that it can no longer be concealed by lordosis, so that when the patient is recumbent, although the spine is arched forwards, the limb is still flexed both at the hip and at the knee; with the spine flat on the table, the flexion of the thigh may amount to as much as a right angle."
  • "Muscle forces therefore must increase as the limbs become more flexed, and we show how this flexion translates to greater volumes of muscle recruited for locomotion and hence metabolic cost."
  • "Back in the mid-1980s, for example, knee replacement surgery was considered a success if the patient wound up with 90 degrees of flexion, which is "nothing near normal," he says."