English

Etymology

Noun

1. Any muscle having two heads.
   • 1901, Michael Foster & Lewis E. Shore, Physiology for Beginners‎, page 73

     The leg is bent by the action of the flexor muscles situated on the back of the thigh, the chief of these being called the biceps of the leg.

2. Specifically, the biceps brachii, the flexor of the elbow.
   • 1905, W. W. Jacobs, "The Boatswain's Mate", The Strand Magazine, page 146

     The soldier reached out a hand and felt the other's biceps. "Like a lump o' wood," he said, approvingly.

   • 1996, Robert Kennedy & Dwayne Hines II, Animal Arms‎, page 21

     The arm muscles are the show muscles of the physique. When someone asks to "see your muscles," they are most likely referring to your arms, and more specifically, your biceps.

   • 2008, Joseph Lee Klapper, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Boosting Your Metabolism‎, page 119

     When curling the weight, bring the barbell up toward the chin, then return it to its starting position. Keep your elbows and upper arms as immobile as possible to isolate the biceps.

3. The upper arm, especially the collective muscles of the upper arm.
4. }
   • 1997, Jean Kimball, Odyssey of the Psyche: Jungian Patterns in Joyce's Ulysses‎, chapter 4, page 70

     When Bloom starts Sandow's exercises, his biceps measure nine inches and his forearm eight and one-half inches, only half an inch smaller than the biceps.

   • 2005, Lisa Plumley, Once Upon a Christmas‎, page 144

     Biting her lip, she held his biceps for balance and waded farther.

Related terms

• biceps brachii
• biceps cubiti
• biceps femoris

• bicipital
• triceps
• quadriceps