Adductor pollicis muscle Adductor pollicis muscle In human anatomy, the adductor pollicis muscle is a muscle in the hand that functions to adduct the thumb. It has two heads: transverse and oblique. It is a fleshy, flat, triangular, and fan-shaped muscle deep in the thenar compartment beneath the long flexor tendons and the lumbrical muscles at the center of the palm. It overlies the metacarpal bones and the interosseous muscles. The oblique head (Latin: "adductor obliquus pollicis") arises by several slips from the capitate bone, the bases of the second and third metacarpals, the intercarpal ligaments, and the sheath of the tendon of
Skeletal muscle "flexor" and "extensor"; "abductor" and "adductor"; "levator" and "depressor"; "supinator" and "pronator"; "sphincter", "tensor", and "rotator" muscles. A flexor muscle decreases the anterior angle at a joint; an extensor increases the anterior angle at a joint. An abductor moves a bone away from the midline; an adductor moves a bone closer to the midline. A levator raises a structure; a depressor moves a structure down. A supinator turns the palm of the hand up; a pronator turns the palm down. A sphincter decreases the size of an opening; a tensor tenses a body part; a rotator turns a bone around