muscle memory

[muhs-uhl mem-uh-ree]

noun

1. Psychology, Physiology.,  the ability, acquired through repetition, to complete a particular muscular movement quickly, efficiently, and without conscious effort.

Word History and Origins

Origin of muscle memory¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

The movement is like muscle memory, and I feel that— in this moment—the soil and I are one.

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Though I’ve barely touched a stick shift in the last 40 years, as with riding a bicycle, you never fully lose the muscle memory.

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When you think so many times about something your muscle memory works by itself.

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Most of these are dishes I could make on muscle memory — which is the point.

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In training, McCann has sometimes felt the urge to lift the knee to block an incoming opponent - "muscle memory", as she puts it.

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