extraocular muscle

noun

ex·​tra·​oc·​u·​lar muscle ˌek-strə-ˈä-kyə-lər- 

: any of the six small voluntary muscles that pass between the eyeball and the orbit and control the movement and stabilization of the eyeball in relation to the orbit

Word History

First Known Use

1939, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

extraocular muscle

noun

: any of six small voluntary muscles that pass between the eyeball and the orbit and control the movement and stabilization of the eyeball in relation to the orbit

—abbreviation EOM see oblique sense b, rectus sense 2