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

“The market has some muscle memory,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

They’ve both used financial muscle to tilt the playing field.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

Obviously, you won’t be doing this full time, but it’s important to be able to show a potential employer that you have been working whatever mental muscle they believe might be out of practice.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

Demand for that computing muscle has helped transform Nvidia into the world's most valuable firm, with a market capitalisation above $5tn.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

He forced himself to steady; worked his way up from toes to knees to elbows, willing each joint and muscle to stop shaking.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

Due to lax collagen between connective tissues, muscles have to work harder to keep joints stable, leading to fatigue and pain, as well as clumsiness.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

Protein powders maximise muscle repair and contribute to muscle growth, while creatine is a quick source of energy for muscles and important in short-duration, high-intensity activities like sprinting.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

Balance training isn’t meant to replace regular exercise: the average adult still needs to do aerobic exercise for cardiovascular health, stretching for flexibility and strength training to build muscles and bone density.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

"Stiffening the joint makes walking safer, but it also means the muscles are working harder without generating as much forward movement," he says.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

He had muscles in his arms thicker than Jonah’s legs.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

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

With the Wayans brothers firmly back in the driver’s seat, horror parody “Scary Movie” muscled its way past He-Man for the top spot at the box office this weekend.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026

Prop Sarah Bern muscled her way over to level the scores on 20 minutes, before Meg Jones hacked on a loose ball and Ellie Kildunne gathered to stretch away on the half hour.

From BBC ● May 17, 2026

Murphy gave Niecy Nash-Betts enough space and material in “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” for her to deliver an award-winning performance that muscled to the fore.

From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2026

Then a shadow detached itself from inside an empty stall and became another Brazen Beast, clad in pleated black skirt, greaves, and muscled breastplate.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

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

High-speed direct-to-device data plans are another example of space-based systems muscling in on traditional terrestrial wireless data providers.

From Barron's ● Mar. 29, 2026

More recently, the daredevil actor has focused on warm-up stretches, muscling his eight-film franchise to its explosive finale.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 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

Ralph and Dalton wrestle over the front seat, with Dalton eventually muscling his way in.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Related Words

• clout
• energy
• stamina
• strength
• weight