muscle

[ muhs-uhl ]

/ ˈmʌs əl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR muscle ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

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

muscular strength; brawn: It will take a great deal of muscle to move this box.

power or force, especially of a coercive nature: They put muscle into their policy and sent the marines.

lean meat.

Slang.

a hired thug or thugs.
a bodyguard or bodyguards: a gangster protected by muscle.

a necessary or fundamental thing, quality, etc.: The editor cut the muscle from the article.

verb (used with object), mus·cled, mus·cling.

Informal. to force or compel others to make way for: He muscled his way into the conversation.

to make more muscular: The dancing lessons muscled her legs.

to strengthen or toughen; put muscle into.

Informal. to accomplish by muscular force: to muscle the partition into place.

Informal. to force or compel, as by threats, promises, influence, or the like: to muscle a bill through Congress.

verb (used without object), mus·cled, mus·cling.

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

adjective

Informal. (of a machine, engine, or vehicle) being very powerful or capable of high-speed performance: a muscle power saw.

Nearby words

Origin of muscle

1525–35; < Latin mūsculus literally, little mouse (from fancied resemblance to some muscles), equivalent to mūs mouse + -culus -cle¹

SYNONYMS FOR muscle

3 power, vigor, might, force.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR muscle ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

mus·cle·less, adjectivemus·cly, adjectiveo·ver·mus·cled, adjectivetrans·mus·cle, noun

un·mus·cled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for muscle

Security guards have also been posted to add some muscle (but this has done little to deter vandals in past years).
Sweden’s Burning Christmas Goat|Nina Strochlic|December 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I can see the implant in there, and see where the muscle is snatching that implant up.
Azealia Banks Opens Up About Her Journey from Stripping to Rap Stardom|Marlow Stern|November 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Experts suggest that we need to think of self-control as a “muscle”; something we can train in order to increase our willpower.
Willpower: Our Greatest Strength?||September 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Guys with a lot of muscle sometimes find it hard to hold up all that weight.
'American Ninja Warrior' May Crown Its First Female Winner Kacy Catanzaro|Rich Goldstein|September 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST

In fact, research has shown that hitting the weights without fuel can lead to the breakdown of muscle.
Does Fasted Cardio Really Burn More Fat?|DailyBurn|August 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Appearance of a small portion of muscle under a moderate magnification.
Voice Production in Singing and Speaking|Wesley Mills
The spoilt child was making new arms, like the schoolboy who exercises his muscle to avenge himself after a beating.
The Unveiling of Lhasa|Edmund Candler
The other two parts are the opposite ends, and are commonly called the origin and insertion of the muscle.
Popular Education|Ira Mayhew
He's three fathom long, as big around as the mainmast, and made up principally of muscle and wickedness.'
Side Show Studies|Francis Metcalfe
Broom's eyes opened, and instantly every muscle and nerve in his hard-trained body tensed for action.
Viewpoint|Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for muscle

muscle

/ (ˈmʌsəl) /

noun

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

an organ composed of muscle tissue

strength or force

verb

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

Derived Formsmuscly, adjective

Word Origin for muscle

C16: from medical Latin musculus little mouse, from the imagined resemblance of some muscles to mice, from Latin mūs mouse

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for muscle (1 of 2)

muscle

late 14c., from Middle French muscle "muscle, sinew" (14c.) and directly from Latin musculus "a muscle," literally "little mouse," diminutive of mus "mouse" (see mouse (n.)).

So called because the shape and movement of some muscles (notably biceps) were thought to resemble mice. The analogy was made in Greek, too, where mys is both "mouse" and "muscle," and its comb. form gives the medical prefix myo-. Cf. also Old Church Slavonic mysi "mouse," mysica "arm;" German Maus "mouse; muscle," Arabic 'adalah "muscle," 'adal "field mouse." In Middle English, lacerte, from the Latin word for "lizard," also was used as a word for a muscle.

Musclez & lacertez bene one selfe þing, Bot þe muscle is said to þe fourme of mouse & lacert to þe fourme of a lizard. [Guy de Chauliac, "Grande Chirurgie," c.1425]

Hence muscular and mousy are relatives, and a Middle English word for "muscular" was lacertous, "lizardy." Figurative sense of "force, violence, threat of violence" is 1930, American English. Muscle car "hot rod" is from 1969.

Word Origin and History for muscle (1 of 2)

muscle

1913, "to accomplish by strength," from muscle (n.). Related: Muscled; muscling. To muscle in is 1929 in underworld slang.

Medicine definitions for muscle

muscle

[ mŭs′əl ]

n.

A tissue consisting predominantly of contractile cells and classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth, the last lacking transverse striations characteristic of the first two.

Any of the contractile organs of the body by which movements of the various organs and parts are effected, and whose fibers are usually attached at each extremity to a bone or other structure by a tendon.

Science definitions for muscle

muscle

[ mŭs′əl ]

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.♦ Skeletal muscle effects voluntary movement and is made up of bundles of elongated cells (muscle fibers), each of which contains many nuclei.♦ 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.♦ Cardiac muscle makes up the muscle of the heart and consists of a meshwork of striated cells.

Related formsmuscular adjective

Idioms and Phrases with muscle

muscle

In addition to the idiom beginning with muscle

muscle in

also see:

flex one's muscles
move a muscle

muscle

noun

verb (used with object), mus·cled, mus·cling.

verb (used without object), mus·cled, mus·cling.

adjective

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Nearby words

Origin of muscle

Examples from the Web for muscle

British Dictionary definitions for muscle

muscle

noun

verb

Word Origin for muscle

Word Origin and History for muscle (1 of 2)

muscle

Word Origin and History for muscle (1 of 2)

muscle

Medicine definitions for muscle

muscle

n.

Science definitions for muscle

muscle

Idioms and Phrases with muscle

muscle