Solar Plexus Definition & Meaning

American

British

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms solar plexus American

noun

1. Also called celiac plexus. Anatomy. a network of nerves situated at the upper part of the abdomen, behind the stomach and in front of the aorta.

2. a point on the stomach wall, just below the sternum, where a blow will affect this nerve center.

solar plexus British

noun

1. Also called: coeliac plexus. anatomy the network of sympathetic nerves situated behind the stomach that supply the abdominal organs

2. (not in technical usage) the part of the stomach beneath the diaphragm; pit of the stomach

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of solar plexus

First recorded in 1765–75; so called from the raylike pattern of the nerve fibers

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“It works just like a real barometer: When the pressure drops, the weather is going to change. The TGB is in your solar plexus. You feel the pressure drop in your gut.”

From Literature

"That would have been a big punch in the solar plexus for Brennan," says Blake.

From BBC

“It’s like a gut punch to the solar plexus,” coach Jim Harbaugh said in the aftermath of the July 27 injury.

From Los Angeles Times

For all of the good things in their performance it ended with a kick to the solar plexus.

From BBC

It was like a kick to the solar plexus of their team's chances of progressing, but they were here with their noise and their colour at Stade de Nice.

From BBC

Related Words

• abdomen
• gut
• insides
• pelvis
• tank
• tummy

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.