muscle
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Related to muscles: muscle building, muscular system
muscle
brawn; power; force; organ that produces movement
Not to be confused with:
mussel – a bivalve mollusk or clam
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree
mus·cle
(mŭs′əl)n.
1. A tissue composed of fibers capable of contracting to effect bodily movement.
2. A contractile organ consisting of a special bundle of muscle tissue, which moves a particular bone, part, or substance of the body: the heart muscle; the muscles of the arm.
3. Muscular strength: enough muscle to be a high jumper.
4. Informal Power or authority: put some muscle into law enforcement.
v. mus·cled, mus·cling, mus·cles
v.intr.
To make one's way by or as if by force: muscled into the conversation.
v.tr.
To move or force with strength: muscled legislation through Congress.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin mūsculus, diminutive of mūs, mouse; see mūs- in Indo-European roots.]
mus′cly adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
muscle
(ˈmʌsəl)n
1. (Anatomy) a tissue composed of bundles of elongated cells capable of contraction and relaxation to produce movement in an organ or part
2. (Anatomy) an organ composed of muscle tissue
3. strength or force
vb
(intr; often foll by in, on, etc) informal to force one's way (in)
[C16: from medical Latin musculus little mouse, from the imagined resemblance of some muscles to mice, from Latin mūs mouse]
ˈmuscly, ˈmuscley adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
mus•cle
(ˈmʌs əl)n., v. -cled, -cling. n.
1. a tissue composed of elongated cells, the contraction of which produces movement in the body.
2. a specific bundle of such tissue.
3. muscular strength; brawn.
4. power or force, esp. of a coercive nature: They put muscle into their policy and sent the marines.
v.i. 5. Informal. to make one's way by force or fraud (often fol. by in or into).
v.t. 6. Informal. to push or move by force or strength: to muscle a bill through Congress.
[1525–35; < Latin mūsculus literally, little mouse (from resemblance to some muscles) =mūs mouse + -culus -cle1]
mus′cly, adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
mus·cle
(mŭs′əl) A body tissue composed of elongated cells (called muscle fibers) that contract to produce movement. In vertebrate animals, voluntary movement is produced by the action of muscles on bone. Movement of the muscles of the heart and other organs is involuntary and controlled by the autonomic nervous system.
muscular adjective
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
muscle
- Comes from Latin musculus, "little mouse," as the ancient Romans thought their muscles wriggled like mice.See also related terms for mice.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
Muscle
See Also: STRENGTH
- The great muscles of his torso flickered and ran like the flank of a horse —Du Bose Heyward
- Heavily defined pectoral muscles, on which the nipples stood out like pennies —Francis King
- Muscled like a water buffalo —Gerald Kersh
- Muscles [of leg] as big as a hill —Dylan Thomas
- Muscles … hard and ropy like the ones on the fantastic coursing dogs in the sad stone friezes of ancient Persia —Beryl Markham
- Muscles … hard as iron —Jack London
- The muscles in his face seemed to pull together like a drawstring purse —Sue Grafton
- The muscles in their arms bulge out like India rubber balls —Joanna M. Glass
- Muscles in their backs rippled … like fretted water over a stony bed —Beryl Markham
- Muscles like armor plates pasted on his body —John Rechy
- Muscles … like blown-up balloons —François Camoin
In his short story, A Hunk of Burning Love, Camoin completes the simile as follows: “Put a pipe in his mouth and he’d look like Popeye.”
- Muscles like marshmallows —Carlos Baker
- The muscles of his arms and back stood out beneath his fair skin like the muscles of one of Rodin’s bronze men —Louis Bromfield
- Muscles of his forearms … moved in ridges and hollows from a knot above his elbow, like pistons working from a cylinder —L. P. Hartley
- Muscles of strength rose like a collar from his neck —Arthur A. Cohen
- Muscles … polished like metal, pure sculpture —Vita Sackville-West
- Muscles pulled like cold rubber —Tony Ardizzone See Also: PAIN
- Muscles rippled like stretching cats —Stephen Vincent Benét
- Muscles stretched taut as cowhide stretched over a baseball —W. P. Kinsella
- Muscles that flow like a mountain stream —Ogden Nash
- Muscles twitching like the flesh of a horse stung by many flies —Ralph Ellison
- Remember … the rippling of bright muscles like a sea —Edith Sitwell
- The ripple of muscles goes along him, like a cat’s back arching —Margaret Atwood
- Wore faded denims through which his clumsy muscles bulged like animals in a sack —Ross Macdonald
Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
muscle
Past participle: muscled
Gerund: muscling
| Imperative |
|---|
| muscle |
| muscle |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
muscle
Tissue that shortens to make part of the body move. Most striated muscle is voluntary (under conscious control). Smooth muscle is involuntary (under automatic control). See cardiac muscle, skeletal muscle, smooth muscle, striated muscle.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Noun | 1. |  muscle - one of the contractile organs of the bodycontractile organ, contractor - a bodily organ that contracts skeletal muscle, striated muscle - a muscle that is connected at either or both ends to a bone and so move parts of the skeleton; a muscle that is characterized by transverse stripes pronator - a muscle that produces or assists in pronation supinator - a muscle (especially in the forearm) that produces or assists in supination levator - a muscle that serves to lift some body part (as the eyelid or lip) antagonistic muscle - (physiology) a muscle that opposes the action of another; "the biceps and triceps are antagonistic muscles" eye muscle, ocular muscle - one of the small muscles of the eye that serve to rotate the eyeball rectus - any of various straight muscles muscle cell, muscle fiber, muscle fibre - an elongated contractile cell that forms the muscles of the body involuntary muscle, smooth muscle - a muscle that contracts without conscious control and found in walls of internal organs such as stomach and intestine and bladder and blood vessels (excluding the heart) anatomical sphincter, sphincter, sphincter muscle - a ring of muscle that contracts to close an opening tensor - any of several muscles that cause an attached structure to become tense or firm |
| 2. |  muscle - animal tissue consisting predominantly of contractile cellsanimal tissue - the tissue in the bodies of animals striated muscle tissue - muscle tissue characterized by transverse stripes cardiac muscle, heart muscle - the muscle tissue of the heart; adapted to continued rhythmic contraction smooth muscle - muscle tissue that does not appear striated under the microscope; has the form of thin layers or sheets | |
| 3. |  muscle - a bully employed as a thug or bodyguard; "the drug lord had his muscleman to protect him" | |
| 4. | muscle - authority or power or force (especially when used in a coercive way); "the senators used their muscle to get the party leader to resign" authority, potency, authorization, authorisation, say-so, dominance - the power or right to give orders or make decisions; "he has the authority to issue warrants"; "deputies are given authorization to make arrests"; "a place of potency in the state" | |
| 5. | muscle - possessing muscular strength strength - the property of being physically or mentally strong; "fatigue sapped his strength" | |
| Verb | 1. | muscle - make one's way by force; "He muscled his way into the office" go across, pass, go through - go across or through; "We passed the point where the police car had parked"; "A terrible thought went through his mind" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
muscle
noun
1. tendon, sinew, muscle tissue, thew He has a strained thigh muscle.
muscle in (Informal) impose yourself, encroach, butt in, force your way in, elbow your way in He complained that they were muscling in on his deal.
Muscles
accelerator, accessorius, adductor, agonist, antagonist, arytenoid, biceps, buccinator, compressor, constrictor, contractor, corrugator, deltoid, depressor, digrastic, dilator, elevator, erector, evertor, extensor, flexor, gastrocnemius, gluteus or glutaeus, levator, lumbricalis, masseter, opponent, pectoral, peroneal muscle, pronator, psoas, quadriceps, rectus, retractor, rhomboideus, rotator, sartorius, scalenus, soleus, sphincter, supinator, suspensory or suspensor, tensor, trapezius, tricepsCollins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
muscle
noun1. The state or quality of being physically strong:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
عَضَلَةٌعَضَلَه
svalmúscul
muskel
muskolo
ماهیچه
lihaslihaskudosvoima
mišićmišica
izom
otot
styrkurvöðvivöîvi
筋肉
근육
musculus
raumuojėga įsibrauti įraumenų
muskulis
mięsieńmuskuł
muşchi
sval
mišica
mišićмишић
muskel
กล้ามเนื้อ
cơ bắp
muscle
[ˈmʌsl] NCollins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
muscle
[ˈmʌsəl] n [body] → muscle m
Exercise will tone up your stomach muscles → Faites de l'exercice pour tonifier vos abdominaux.
he didn't move a muscle (fig) (= remained motionless) → il est resté immobile
Exercise will tone up your stomach muscles → Faites de l'exercice pour tonifier vos abdominaux.
he didn't move a muscle (fig) (= remained motionless) → il est resté immobile
to flex one's muscles (= demonstrate one's power) → faire étalage de sa force
to muscle in on sth (= attempt to benefit from) → essayer de détourner qch à ses propres finsmuscle tissue n → tissu m musculaire
muscle in
vi → s'imposer, s'immiscermuscle in on
vt fusto muscle in on sth (= attempt to benefit from) → essayer de détourner qch à ses propres finsmuscle tissue n → tissu m musculaire
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
muscle
n → Muskel m; (fig: = power) → Macht f; he’s all muscle → er besteht nur aus Muskeln, er ist sehr muskulös (gebaut); to have financial muscle → finanzstark or -kräftig sein; he never moved a muscle → er rührte sich nicht
muscle
:muscle-bound
muscle building
n → Muskelaufbau m
muscle cramp
n → Muskelkrampf m
muscleman
n → Muskelmann m, → Muskelprotz m (pej)
muscle power
n → Muskelkraft f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
muscle
[ˈmʌsl] n → muscolo (fig) → energia, forzahe never moved a muscle → rimase fermo immobile
muscle in vi + adv to muscle in (on sth) (fam) → intromettersi or immischiarsi (in qc)
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
muscle
(ˈmasl) noun any of the bundles of fibres in the body which, by contracting or relaxing, cause movement of the body. He has well-developed muscles in his arms.
muscular (ˈmaskjulə) adjective1. of, or relating to, muscle(s). great muscular strength.
2. having well-developed muscles; strong. She is tall and muscular.
muscle in (often with on) to gain entry, or gain a share of something by force. The large firms have muscled in on all the important contracts.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
muscle
→ عَضَلَةٌ sval muskel Muskel μυς músculo lihas muscle mišić muscolo 筋肉 근육 spier muskel mięsień músculo мышца muskel กล้ามเนื้อ kas cơ bắp 肌肉Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
mus·cle
n. músculo, tipo de tejido fibroso capaz de contraerse y que permite el movimiento de las partes y los órganos del cuerpo;
cardiac ___ → ___ cardíaco;
flexor ___ → ___ flexor;
involuntary, visceral ___ → ___ involuntario, visceral;
loss of ___ tone → pérdida de la tonicidad muscular;
___ building → desarrollo muscular;
___ relaxants → relajadores musculares, medicamentos para aliviar espasmos musculares;
___ strain → distensión muscular;
___ toning → tonicidad muscular;
striated, voluntary ___ → ___ estriado, voluntario.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
muscle
n músculo; biceps — músculo bíceps, bíceps m; deltoid — músculo deltoides, deltoides m; gastrocnemius — músculo gastrocnemio, gastrocnemio; gluteus — músculo glúteo, glúteo; pectoral — músculo pectoral, pectoral m; psoas — músculo psoas, psoas m; quadriceps — músculo cuádriceps, cuádriceps m; skeletal — músculo esquelético; smooth — músculo liso; soleus — músculo sóleo, sóleo; trapezius — músculo trapecio, trapecio; triceps — músculo tríceps, tríceps mEnglish-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.