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

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Etymology

Origin of muscle

1525–35; < Latin mūsculus literally, little mouse (from fancied resemblance to some muscles), equivalent to mūs mouse + -culus -cle ¹

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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

They can include muscle and joint aches, stiffness and swelling, reduced strength and pins and needles.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

According to the International Menopause Society, almost three in four women experience joint or muscle pain during perimenopause, while women are up to 70% more likely than men to experience chronic pain generally.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

Exercise can help bring this system back into balance, allowing muscle cells to remove damaged proteins and maintain healthy tissue.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

The result is a breakdown in muscle maintenance.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

Every muscle in her body ached, even parts she hadn’t known existed.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

When the researchers increased DEAF1 levels, muscles weakened rapidly.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

Because muscles play an important role in metabolism, their deterioration can affect far more than physical strength.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

The research, led by Duke-NUS Medical School in collaboration with Singapore General Hospital and Cardiff University, identified a molecular system that becomes disrupted as muscles grow older.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

In healthy muscles, they prevent DEAF1 from becoming excessively active.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

His hair is cut low, in a fade that feeds into the muscles in his neck.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Last summer Fifa muscled in on that elite club football territory, adding teams from other continents to the mix.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 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

Anthropic, run by the former OpenAI executive Dario Amodei, has muscled further into financial services since it launched a suite of tools catering to banks, financial-technology firms, and others last year.

From Barron's ● May 5, 2026

The Greeks were in charge of Egypt for three centuries, before the Romans muscled their way in under Emperor Augustus.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

Farring was broad-chested and well muscled under his plate and mail.

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

That’s where Haaland appeared first, muscling past his defender to meet the ball with his head and power it into the goal’s bottom corner.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026

That signals that geopolitical risks could be muscling their way into asset prices, potentially overshadowing positives from the economic cycle and corporate earnings.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 1, 2026

By contrast, the administration has had some success in muscling down mortgage rates, with the aim of improving housing affordability.

From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 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

Complaining that “the Chicago people” were muscling in on his match race, Swope went into overdrive.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

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