What it means
Going across rather than up and down. The transverse plane divides the body into upper and lower parts. A transverse fracture breaks straight across a bone, a transverse incision runs side to side, as in the low incision for many cesarean births, and a transverse lie means the fetus is lying sideways in the uterus. The transverse colon crosses the abdomen from right to left.
Related terms
cesarean birth
Birth of a baby through surgical cuts in the belly and the uterus.
fracture
A break or crack in a bone.