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move a muscle

Idioms

Bestir oneself even slightly. This idiom is usually put negatively, either with implied criticism, as in She won't move a muscle to help get dinner, or not, as in When I saw the deer, I stayed quite still, not daring to move a muscle. It was first recorded in 1889.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

move a muscle

Through it all, some 40 minutes, MPA didn’t move a muscle.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

Clearly, they coped extremely well, and newly confirmed number one Hampton barely had to move a muscle.

From BBC ● May 30, 2025

I’ve been here for a while and I haven’t seen it move a muscle.

From Salon ● Dec. 19, 2024

Brain-computer interface devices work by recording brain activities associated with a function, such as speech or movement, and use them to control an external device without having to move a muscle.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 2, 2024

I hate to admit it, but she doesn’t move a muscle.

From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023