quadriceps muscle of thigh

n.

1. A muscle with origin by four heads: the rectus muscle of the thigh, the lateral vastus muscle, the intermediate vastus muscle, and the medial vastus muscle; with insertion into the patella and by a ligament to the tuberosity of the tibia, with nerve supply from the femoral nerve, and whose action extends the leg and flexes the thigh by action of the rectus muscle of the thigh.