voluntary muscle

American  

noun

Anatomy.

1. muscle whose action is normally controlled by an individual's will; mainly skeletal muscle, composed of parallel bundles of striated, multinucleate fibers.

---

Usage

What are voluntary muscles? A voluntary muscle is a muscle that you choose to move, like those in the arms and legs, as opposed to the ones that move automatically, like the heart.Muscle is the tissue in animals that produces movement or motion. Voluntary means done out of free will or by choice. Voluntary muscles are also often called skeletal muscles (because all of the muscles attached to the skeleton are voluntary muscles) or striated muscles (because the muscle fibers make them look striated, or stripy).Example: Around 40 percent of a human’s body mass is made up of voluntary muscles.

Etymology

Origin of voluntary muscle

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

It causes the loss of cells which control voluntary muscle movements and, eventually, patients lose their ability to speak, eat, walk and breathe independently.

From BBC • Feb. 20, 2026

SMA is a genetic disease that disrupts the nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movement.

From Science Daily • Dec. 7, 2023

A disease affecting about one in ten thousand Americans, cataplexy involves the occasional, sudden loss of voluntary muscle control.

From Salon • Mar. 15, 2014

The ad is narrated by Steve Gleason, a former prof football player who is living with ALS, a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 3, 2014

He was conscious, he was breathing normally, his heart was beating; but not a voluntary muscle would obey his will!

From Triplanetary by Smith, E. E. (Edward Elmer)