sinew
Americannoun
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a tendon.
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Often sinews. the source of strength, power, or vigor.
the sinews of the nation.
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strength; power; resilience.
a man of great moral sinew.
verb (used with object)
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of sinew
before 900; Middle English; Old English sinu (nominative), sinuwe (genitive); cognate with Dutch zenuw, German Sehne, Old Norse sin; akin to Sanskrit snāva sinew
Explanation
The tendon that connects muscles to bone is also called sinew. The noun is also used to suggest strength and resilience, and is sometimes used as a literary term for muscle, literal or metaphorical, as in “a nation’s sinew.” Sinew derives from before 900 CE, with relatives found in the Dutch zenuw and the Old High German senawa. Our present spelling worked its way through the Old English seonowe to become the Middle English sinewe. Aside from its anatomical meaning, this word is often used to present an image of strength and power, evident in filmmaker Ingmar Bergman’s statement, “I write scripts to serve as skeletons awaiting the flesh and sinew of images.”
Vocabulary lists containing sinew
"Beowulf," Vocabulary from the epic poem
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Beowulf
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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:
Players who don't have the manager's back might not strain every last sinew when they know his job is hanging by a thread.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2025
“To have had the opportunity to come back and to really play, discover, and put flesh and blood and sinew and heartbeat into this woman, to really fill her out,” O’Reilly says.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2025
The nearly photorealistic face of Senua, the unconventional hero of this 10th-century revenge tale, as she grimaces with every sinew taut, her veins bulging.
From New York Times ● May 20, 2024
"We are straining every sinew to accelerate safely what we have to do to stop the leak, and the best way to do that is to remove the waste safely," he said.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2023
Fang was all lips and teeth and long hair, all muscle and sinew and bone.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
It’s hard to imagine a greater accomplishment than to achieve peace while stiffening the sinews of deterrence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026
Among the findings are arrows preserved with their original feathers, remains of fibres, and two bowstrings made of animal sinews, which are the oldest found so far in Europe.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 5, 2024
Tiger bone is believed to strengthen bones and sinews, provide pain relief and help get rid of wind.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2023
Such phase transitions could give rise to cosmic strings, hypothesized one-dimensional sinews of energy that can warp, snap and break as they undulate through the universe, producing gravitational waves.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 4, 2023
I remind myself of a greyhound, all sinews and skinny rib cage.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
