any of the muscles that draw a part of the body toward its median line or toward the axis of an extremity (compare abductor muscle), particularly three powerful muscles of the human thigh—adductor longus, adductor brevis, and adductor magnus. Originating at the pubis and the ischium (lower portions of the pelvis—the hipbone), these ribbonlike muscles are attached along the femur (thighbone). Their primary action is adduction of the thigh, as in squeezing the thighs together; they also aid in rotation and flexion of the thigh.

Other muscles named for this function include the adductor pollicis, which draws in and opposes the thumb, and the adductor hallucis, which acts on the great toe.