muscleman

[ muhs-uhl-man ]

/ ˈmʌs əlˌmæn /

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noun, plural mus·cle·men.

Informal. a man with a muscular or brawny physique, especially a bodybuilder.

Slang. a bodyguard, especially one hired to intimidate others, often by strong-arm methods.

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Origin of muscleman

An Americanism dating back to 1925–30; muscle + man

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use muscleman in a sentence

In the first episode, an officer is shown video of himself shooting and killing a man.
'Babylon' Review: The Dumb Lives of Trigger-Happy Cops|Melissa Leon|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
That man was Xavier Cortada, a gay man who wrote of his frustration that he and his partner of eight years were unable to marry.
Jeb Bush’s Unseen Anti-Gay Marriage Emails|Jackie Kucinich|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
It is the summit of human happiness: the surrender of man to God, of woman to man, of several women to the same man.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But no more so than the Sodexo building maintenance man or the two cops who were also killed in the crossfire.
Trolls and Martyrdom: Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie|Arthur Chu|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

He looks like a man who should have had kids, but now never will.
The Muslim Cop Killed by Terrorists|Michael Daly|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Davy looked around and saw an old man coming toward them across the lawn.
Davy and The Goblin|Charles E. Carryl
The supernaturalist alleges that religion was revealed to man by God, and that the form of this revelation is a sacred book.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
The most High hath created medicines out of the earth, and a wise man will not abhor them.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
He remembered something—the cherished pose of being a man plunged fathoms-deep in business.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
On the thirteenth of the same month they bound to the stake, in order to burn alive, a man who had two religious in his house.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various

British Dictionary definitions for muscleman

muscleman

/ (ˈmʌsəlˌmæn) /

noun plural -men

a man with highly developed muscles

a henchman employed by a gangster to intimidate or use violence upon victims

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