voluntary muscle

noun

Anatomy.

1. muscle whose action is normally controlled by an individual's will; mainly skeletal muscle, composed of parallel bundles of striated, multinucleate fibers.

Word History and Origins

Origin of voluntary muscle¹

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

One large part of the cortex, the motor cortex, is known to control the body's voluntary muscle movements, including those involved in speech, while another large section, the auditory cortex, is known to control hearing.

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As the disease progresses, the nerve cells controlling voluntary muscle movement die.

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"We aimed to clarify the association of phase angle obtained from the leg using BIA with voluntary muscle strength, twitch contractile properties, and neuromuscular activity," says Assistant Prof. Hirata.

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SMA is a genetic disease that disrupts the nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movement.

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Scientists who subscribed to the active muscle contractions theory believed that when cats purr in response to being comfortable or, conversely, to feeling stressed, they do so as a voluntary muscle contraction.

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When To Use

What are voluntary muscles?

A voluntary muscle is a muscle that you choose to move, like those in the arms and legs, as opposed to the ones that move automatically, like the heart.Muscle is the tissue in animals that produces movement or motion. Voluntary means done out of free will or by choice. Voluntary muscles are also often called skeletal muscles (because all of the muscles attached to the skeleton are voluntary muscles) or striated muscles (because the muscle fibers make them look striated, or stripy).Example: Around 40 percent of a human’s body mass is made up of voluntary muscles.