jugular

Etymology

Late 16th century borrowing from Late Latin jugulāris, from jugulum (“the collarbone; the hollow part of the neck above the collarbone; the throat”) + -āris (“-ar, -ary”, adjectival suffix); equivalent to jugulum + -ar.

adj

1. (anatomy, relational) Relating to, or located near, the neck or throat.
   1. (relational) Of or pertaining to the jugular vein.
2. (zootomy, of fish) Having ventral fins attached under the throat.
3. (humorous, relational) Relating to juggling.

noun

1. (anatomy) Ellipsis of jugular vein.
2. (by extension) Any critical vulnerability.
   It was vicious; he went for the jugular.
   One of Lionel's old Salthill friends with whom he exchanged perhaps a dozen words a year, and with whom he sometimes played squash, and tennis, both men killers on the court, seeking the jugular […]. 2001, Joyce Carol Oates, Middle Age: A Romance, paperback edition, Fourth Estate, page 83