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digastric muscle

 - 2 dictionary results
Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: digastric muscle
Function: noun
: either of a pair of muscles having two bellies separated by a median tendon that extend from the anterior inferior margin ofthe mandible to the temporal bone and serve to open the jaw called also digastric
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

digastric muscle n.

  1. A muscle with two fleshy bellies separated by a fibrous insertion.

  2. A muscle consisting of two bellies united by a central tendon connected to the body of the hyoid bone, with origin from the digastric groove medial to the mastoid process, with insertion into the lower border of the mandible, with nerve supply of the posterior belly from the facial nerve, and of the anterior belly by the mylohyoid nerve, and whose action elevates the hyoid when the mandible is fixed and depresses the mandible when the hyoid is fixed.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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