Noun
thyroarytenoid muscle (plural thyroarytenoid muscles)
(anatomy) A broad, thin muscle that arises especially from the thyroid cartilage, inserts into the arytenoid cartilage, and functions to relax and shorten the vocal cords by drawing the arytenoid cartilage forward and to narrow the rima glottidis by rotating the arytenoid cartilage inward causing the vocal cords to approach each other.