thyrocervical trunk /-sur′vikəl/ [Gk, thyreos, shield, eidos, form; L, cervix, neck, truncus] , one of a pair of short thick arterial branches arising from the first part of the subclavian arteries close to the medial border of the scalenus anterior and supplying numerous muscles and bones in the head, neck, and back. Each is divided into three branches: the inferior thyroid, the suprascapular, and the transverse cervical.
