muscle

American  

[muhs-uhl] / ˈmʌs əl /

noun

• muscles
  plural

1. a tissue composed of cells or fibers, the contraction of which produces movement in the body.

2. an organ, composed of muscle tissue, that contracts to produce a particular movement.

3. muscular strength; brawn.

   It will take a great deal of muscle to move this box.

   Synonyms:

   force, might, vigor, power

4. power or force, especially of a coercive nature.

   They put muscle into their policy and sent the marines.

5. lean meat.

6. Slang.

   1. a hired thug or thugs.

   2. a bodyguard or bodyguards.

      a gangster protected by muscle.

7. a necessary or fundamental thing, quality, etc..

   The editor cut the muscle from the article.

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verb (used with object)

• muscles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• muscled,
  past participle,  past
• muscling
  present participle

1. Informal. to force or compel others to make way for.

   He muscled his way into the conversation.

2. to make more muscular.

   The dancing lessons muscled her legs.

3. to strengthen or toughen; put muscle into.

4. Informal. to accomplish by muscular force.

   to muscle the partition into place.

5. Informal. to force or compel, as by threats, promises, influence, or the like.

   to muscle a bill through Congress.

verb (used without object)

• muscles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• muscled,
  past participle,  past
• muscling
  present participle

1. Informal. to make one's way by force or fraud (often followed by in orinto ).

adjective

1. Informal. (of a machine, engine, or vehicle) being very powerful or capable of high-speed performance.

   a muscle power saw.

muscle British  

/ ˈmʌsəl /

noun

1. a tissue composed of bundles of elongated cells capable of contraction and relaxation to produce movement in an organ or part

2. an organ composed of muscle tissue

3. strength or force

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verb

1. informal (intr; often foll by in, on, etc) to force one's way (in)

muscle Scientific  

/ mŭs′əl /

1. A body tissue composed of sheets or bundles of cells that contract to produce movement or increase tension. Muscle cells contain filaments made of the proteins actin and myosin, which lie parallel to each other. When a muscle is signaled to contract, the actin and myosin filaments slide past each other in an overlapping pattern.

2. ◆ Skeletal muscle effects voluntary movement and is made up of bundles of elongated cells (muscle fibers), each of which contains many nuclei.

3. ◆ Smooth muscle provides the contractile force for the internal organs and is controlled by the autonomic nervous system. Smooth muscle cells are spindle-shaped and each contains a single nucleus.

4. ◆ Cardiac muscle makes up the muscle of the heart and consists of a meshwork of striated cells.

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muscle Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing muscle

• flex one's muscles
• move a muscle

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• transmuscle
  noun
• muscleless
  adjective
• muscly
  adjective
• overmuscled
  adjective
• unmuscled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• muscles
  plural

Participles

• muscling
  present
• muscled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• muscle
  simple
• muscles
  simple
• have muscled
  perfect
• has muscled
  perfect
• am muscling
  progressive
• are muscling
  progressive
• is muscling
  progressive
• have been muscling
  perfect progressive
• has been muscling
  perfect progressive

Past

• muscled
  simple
• had muscled
  perfect
• was muscling
  progressive
• were muscling
  progressive
• had been muscling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will muscle
  simple
• will have muscled
  perfect
• will be muscling
  progressive
• will have been muscling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of muscle

1525–35; < Latin mūsculus literally, little mouse (from fancied resemblance to some muscles), equivalent to mūs mouse + -culus -cle ¹

Explanation

Do you have the muscle to muscle your way to the top? Muscle is both a noun and verb associated with strength, power, or the use of physical force. In addition to biological muscle, like the biceps in your arms, muscle can refer simply to power or authority, as in “We have the muscle to get the job done.” Muscle can also refer to a hired thug. In a similar sense, muscle is used as a verb to mean “use force.” A bully might muscle someone out of their lunch money, or you might muscle your way through a crowd by pushing people out of your way.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

muscle muscles muscled muscling

By then, he was suffering from fever, chills, muscle pain, a sore throat and bleeding.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

People say that experimental peptide injections have helped them reduce inflammation, build muscle and defy aging.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Gym rats can check their body composition of fat and muscle, people with heart issues can get their heartbeat captured, and mole owners can get their moles mapped to 0.1 mm.

From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026

“It’s like a new muscle for players to learn,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

I felt the ache of every muscle in my body, and as I closed my eyes, I felt the swirl of the sea around me.

From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles

Christian Wilson, from Bromsgrove, has verbal dyspraxia - a difficulty in placing muscles in the correct position to produce speech.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

According to Mayo Clinic, the condition causes temporary weakness or paralysis of facial muscles, and Brolin felt there was “nothing else to blame” for the symptoms.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

By the end of a set, your muscles should feel tense and fatigued.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

Today women are displaying their arm muscles once again, but this time it’s purely to show off how strong they are.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Instead, they hypothesized that she was using her joints and muscles.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

The situation only got worse as WWE muscled out nearly all regional promotions.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

He muscled his way past a defender and poked the ball home, establishing the 24-year-old as America’s top goal-scoring presence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

In a 2019 interview with The Times, Pratt said he muscled his way onto “The Hills” after learning that Sean Travis, a producer on “Princes of Malibu,” was working on the new series.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

Anthropic, run by the former OpenAI executive Dario Amodei, has muscled further into financial services since it launched a suite of tools catering to banks, financial-technology firms, and others last year.

From Barron's ● May 5, 2026

I was a real skinny kid then, young, and it would be two or three years before I muscled out.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

On the whole, however, economists say there’s no sign AI is muscling people out of their jobs on a massive scale.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

Back near the cusp of the new “American Century,” the 20th, the nation had no problem muscling up its military.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026

By contrast, the administration has had some success in muscling down mortgage rates, with the aim of improving housing affordability.

From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026

As the operator, you can override the lane-change feature by muscling the car into a new lane.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 20, 2025

He was around the back of the bus, muscling a heavy backpack into the trunk.

From "The Honest Truth" by Dan Gemeinhart

Related Words

• clout
• energy
• stamina
• strength
• weight