'Muscle' definitions:
Definition of 'muscle'
From: WordNet
noun
One of the contractile organs of the body [syn: muscle, musculus]
noun
Animal tissue consisting predominantly of contractile cells [syn: muscle, muscular tissue]
noun
A bully employed as a thug or bodyguard; "the drug lord had his muscleman to protect him" [syn: muscleman, muscle]
noun
Authority or power or force (especially when used in a coercive way); "the senators used their muscle to get the party leader to resign"
noun
verb
Make one's way by force; "He muscled his way into the office"
Definition of 'Muscle'
From: GCIDE
- Muscle \Mus"cle\ (m[u^]s"'l), n. [F., fr. L. musculus a muscle, a little mouse, dim. of mus a mouse. See Mouse, and cf. sense 3 (below).]
- 1. (Anat.) (a) An organ which, by its contraction, produces motion. See Illust. of Muscles of the Human Body, in Appendix. (b) The contractile tissue of which muscles are largely made up. [1913 Webster]
- Note: Muscles are of two kinds, striated and nonstriated. The striated muscles, which, in most of the higher animals, constitute the principal part of the flesh, exclusive of the fat, are mostly under the control of the will, or voluntary, and are made up of great numbers of elongated fibres bound together into bundles and inclosed in a sheath of connective tissue, the perimysium. Each fiber is inclosed in a delicate membrane (the sarcolemma), is made up of alternate segments of lighter and darker material which give it a transversely striated appearance, and contains, scattered through its substance, protoplasmic nuclei, the so-called muscle corpuscles. [1913 Webster] The nonstriated muscles are involuntary. They constitute a large part of the walls of the alimentary canal, blood vessels, uterus, and bladder, and are found also in the iris, skin, etc. They are made up of greatly elongated cells, usually grouped in bundles or sheets. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Muscular strength or development; as, to show one's muscle by lifting a heavy weight. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
- 3. [AS. muscle, L. musculus a muscle, mussel. See above.] (Zool.) See Mussel. [1913 Webster]
- 4. An essential part of something; as, budget cuts have gone beyond the fat and are cutting into the muscle of the government. [PJC]
- 5. Bodyguards or other persons hired to provide protection or commit violence; as, he doesn't go out without his muscle along. [slang] [PJC]
- Muscle curve (Physiol.), contraction curve of a muscle; a myogram; the curve inscribed, upon a prepared surface, by means of a myograph when acted upon by a contracting muscle. The character of the curve represents the extent of the contraction. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'muscle'
From: GCIDE
- muscle \mus"cle\, v. t.
- 1. To compel by threat of force; as, they muscled the shopkeeper into paying protection money. [PJC]
- 2. To moved by human force; as, to muscle the piano onto the truck. [PJC]
Synonyms of 'muscle'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- adductor,
- arm,
- beef,
- beefiness,
- biceps,
- brawn,
- brawniness,
- buccinator,
- effort,
- elasticity,
- elbow grease,
- endeavor,
- energy,
- exert strength,
- exertion,
- force,
- gemellus,
- gluteus maximus,
- hard pull,
- heftiness,
- huskiness,
- infraspinatus,
- intercostal,
- involuntary muscle,
- latissimus dorsi,
- levator,
- long pull,
- masseter,
- mentalis,
- might,
- might and main,
- muscularity,
- musculature,
- mylohyoid,
- nasalis,
- nerve and sinew,
- oblique,
- occipitalis,
- omohyoid,
- pains,
- pectineus,
- pectoralis,
- peroneus,
- physique,
- potency,
- power,
- sinew,
- sinewiness,
- sinews,
- sphincter,
- strength,
- strong arm,
- strong-arm,
- tensor,
- thew,
- thewiness,
- thews,
- tone,
- trapezius,
- triceps,
- trouble,
- use force,
- voluntary muscle
Words containing 'Muscle'
- Muscled,
- Muscling,
- muscle into,
- Deltoid muscle,
- Muscle Shoals,
- Muscle curve,
- Muscle plasma,
- Muscle reading,
- Muscle serum,
- Muscle sugar,
- Pathetic muscle,
- Scalene muscles,
- abdominal muscle,
- abducens muscle,
- abductor muscle,
- adductor muscle,
- anconeous muscle,
- antagonistic muscle,
- articular muscle,
- axial muscle,
- buccinator muscle,
- cardiac muscle,
- cheek muscle,
- cowl muscle,
- depressor muscle,
- extensor muscle,
- eye muscle,
- facial muscle,
- flexor muscle,
- gastrocnemius muscle,
- gluteal muscle,
- gluteus muscle,
- heart muscle,
- intercostal muscle,
- involuntary muscle,
- muscle bound,
- muscle builder,
- muscle building,
- muscle cell,
- muscle contraction,
- muscle fiber,
- muscle fibre,
- muscle man,
- muscle memory,
- muscle relaxant,
- muscle sense,
- muscle spasm,
- muscle system,
- muscle tone,
- ocular muscle,
- papillary muscle,
- pectoral muscle,
- pterygoid muscle,
- rhomboid muscle,
- sartorius muscle,
- scalene muscle,
- serratus muscles,
- skeletal muscle,
- smooth muscle,
- soleus muscle,
- sphincter muscle,
- splenius muscle,
- sternocleidomastoid muscle,
- striated muscle,
- temporal muscle,
- temporalis muscle,
- teres muscle,
- tibialis muscle,
- trapezius muscle,
- voluntary muscle,
- Muscle Shoals, AL,
- anterior serratus muscle,
- external oblique muscle,
- great adductor muscle,
- greater pectoral muscle,
- greater rhomboid muscle,
- inferior rectus muscle,
- lateral rectus muscle,
- lesser rhomboid muscle,
- medial rectus muscle,
- muscle-bound,
- muscle-builder,
- posterior serratus muscle,
- rhomboid minor muscle,
- rhomboideus major muscle,
- smaller pectoral muscle,
- smooth muscle cell,
- striated muscle cell,
- striated muscle fiber,
- striated muscle tissue,
- superior rectus muscle,
- teres major muscle,
- teres minor muscle,
- transverse muscle of abdomen,
- transversus abdominis muscle,
- abdominal external oblique muscle