EXTREMITY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does extremity mean? 

• EXTREMITY (noun)
  The noun EXTREMITY has 5 senses:

1. an external body part that projects from the body

2. an extreme condition or state (especially of adversity or disease)

3. the greatest or utmost degree

4. the outermost or farthest region or point

5. that part of a limb that is farthest from the torso

  Familiarity information: EXTREMITY used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXTREMITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An external body part that projects from the body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

appendage; extremity; member

Context example:

it is important to keep the extremities warm

Hypernyms ("extremity" is a kind of...):

external body part (any body part visible externally)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "extremity"):

mouthpart (any part of the mouth of an insect or other arthropod especially one adapted to a specific way of feeding)

fang (an appendage of insects that is capable of injecting venom; usually evolved from the legs)

chela; claw; nipper; pincer (a grasping structure on the limb of a crustacean or other arthropods)

parapodium (one of a pair of fleshy appendages of a polychete annelid that functions in locomotion and breathing)

fin (organ of locomotion and balance in fishes and some other aquatic animals)

pleopod; swimmeret (one of the paired abdominal appendages of certain aquatic crustaceans that function primarily for carrying the eggs in females and are usually adapted for swimming)

limb (one of the jointed appendages of an animal used for locomotion or grasping: arm; leg; wing; flipper)

dactyl; digit (a finger or toe in human beings or corresponding body part in other vertebrates)

chelicera (either of the first pair of fang-like appendages near the mouth of an arachnid; often modified for grasping and piercing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An extreme condition or state (especially of adversity or disease)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("extremity" is a kind of...):

adversity; hard knocks; hardship (a state of misfortune or affliction)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "extremity"):

bitter end (the final extremity (however unpleasant it may be))

Derivation:

extreme (of the greatest possible degree or extent or intensity)

extreme (far beyond a norm in quantity or amount or degree; to an utmost degree)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The greatest or utmost degree

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

the extremity of despair

Hypernyms ("extremity" is a kind of...):

ultimacy; ultimateness (the state or degree of being ultimate; the final or most extreme in degree or size or time or distance)

Derivation:

extreme (of the greatest possible degree or extent or intensity)

extreme (far beyond a norm in quantity or amount or degree; to an utmost degree)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The outermost or farthest region or point

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("extremity" is a kind of...):

part; region (the extended spatial location of something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "extremity"):

bound; boundary; bounds (the line or plane indicating the limit or extent of something)

end; terminal (either extremity of something that has length)

extreme; extreme point; extremum (the point located farthest from the middle of something)

limit (as far as something can go)

Derivation:

extreme (most distant in any direction)

Sense 5

Meaning:

That part of a limb that is farthest from the torso

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("extremity" is a kind of...):

external body part (any body part visible externally)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "extremity"):

pedal extremity; vertebrate foot (the extremity of the limb in vertebrates)

hand; manus; mitt; paw (the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb)

finger (any of the terminal members of the hand (sometimes excepting the thumb))

toe (one of the digits of the foot)

Holonyms ("extremity" is a part of...):

limb (one of the jointed appendages of an animal used for locomotion or grasping: arm; leg; wing; flipper)

 Context examples 

The portion of the upper extremity between the shoulder and the elbow.

(Arm, NCI Thesaurus)

An artery of the lower extremity that supplies blood to the anterior part of the leg and the foot.

(Anterior Tibial Artery, NCI Thesaurus)

It typically affects young patients, presenting as a slowly growing nodular or cystic tumor mass, most often in the subcutaneous tissues of the extremities.

(Angiomatoid Fibrous Histiocytoma, NCI Thesaurus)

It is characterized by lipoatrophy in the trunk, face, and extremities, hypertriglyceridemia, muscle hypertrophy, cardiomyopathy and hepatomegaly.

(Berardinelli-Seip Congenital Lipodystrophy, NCI Thesaurus)

A bone of the leg (lower extremity).

(Bone of the Lower Extremity, NCI Thesaurus)

Commonly observed at birth in Turner Syndrome and NOONAN SYNDROME; EDEMA of the extremities usually recedes by one year and is an early sign of Turner syndrome, especially in female neonates.

(Bonnevie-Ullrich Syndrome, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Clinical signs of the symmetrical form are identical to those of Turner syndrome and include bilateral webbing of the neck and edema of the extremities.

(Bonnevie-Ullrich Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

A bone of the arm (upper extremity).

(Bone of the Upper Extremity, NCI Thesaurus)

In adults the most common sites of involvement are the extremities, and in infants and children, the head and neck.

(Alveolar soft part sarcoma, NCI Thesaurus)

The tumor usually presents in the extremities.

(Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, NCI Thesaurus)