shoulder blade

noun

plural shoulder blades

: either of a pair of large, flat, triangular-shaped bones that lie above the rib cage on either side of the upper back : scapula

a fractured shoulder blade

He has a wing-shaped tribal tattoo between his shoulder blades.

—Cliff Mehrtens

… types who didn't wash and grew hair to their shoulder blades.

—Curtis W. Casewit

Examples of shoulder blade in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

All of this can lead to pain in the back of the shoulder and shoulder blades, as well as tightness and sensitivity in the chest, among other issues. —Deborah Vankin, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2025

Pull yourself up toward the bar, squeezing your shoulder blades and engaging your core, quads, and glutes. —Amy Marturana Winderl, SELF, 9 Oct. 2024

And there are also the ones that attach to the scapula (shoulder blades), including your rhomboids and trapezius. —Elizabeth Millard, Cpt, SELF, 19 Nov. 2024

Ju Woong, director of the Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital, where one of the survivors was hospitalized, said the man was being treated in an intensive care unit for fractures to his ribs, shoulder blade and upper spine. —Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Fox News, 29 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

shoulder blade

noun

: the flat triangular bone of the back of the shoulder that forms a joint with the humerus of the upper arm

called also scapula

Medical Definition

shoulder blade

noun

: scapula