Library / English Dictionary

MUSCLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Possessing muscular strength

Synonyms:

brawn; brawniness; heftiness; muscle; muscularity; sinew

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("muscle" is a kind of...):

strength (the property of being physically or mentally strong)

Derivation:

muscle (make one's way by force)

muscular (having a robust muscular body-build characterized by predominance of structures (bone and muscle and connective tissue) developed from the embryonic mesodermal layer)

muscular ((of a person) possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Authority or power or force (especially when used in a coercive way)

Example:

the senators used their muscle to get the party leader to resign

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("muscle" is a kind of...):

authorisation; authority; authorization; dominance; potency; say-so (the power or right to give orders or make decisions)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Animal tissue consisting predominantly of contractile cells

Synonyms:

muscle; muscular tissue

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("muscle" is a kind of...):

animal tissue (the tissue in the bodies of animals)

Domain member category:

tone; tonicity; tonus (the elastic tension of living muscles, arteries, etc. that facilitate response to stimuli)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "muscle"):

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)

Holonyms ("muscle" is a part of...):

muscle system; muscular structure; musculature (the muscular system of an organism)

Derivation:

muscular (of or relating to or consisting of muscle)

Sense 4

Meaning:

One of the contractile organs of the body

Synonyms:

muscle; musculus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("muscle" is a kind of...):

contractile organ; contractor (a bodily organ that contracts)

Meronyms (parts of "muscle"):

muscle cell; muscle fiber; muscle fibre (an elongated contractile cell that forms the muscles of the body)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "muscle"):

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)

eye muscle; ocular muscle (one of the small muscles of the eye that serve to rotate the eyeball)

rectus (any of various straight muscles)

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)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A bully employed as a thug or bodyguard

Example:

the drug lord had his muscleman to protect him

Synonyms:

muscle; muscleman

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("muscle" is a kind of...):

bully; hooligan; roughneck; rowdy; ruffian; tough; yob; yobbo; yobo (a cruel and brutal fellow)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make one's way by force

Example:

He muscled his way into the office

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "muscle" is one way to...):

pass (go across or through)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

muscle (possessing muscular strength)

Credits

 Context examples: 

An international team of researchers discovered two proteins essential to the development of skeletal muscle.

(Researchers Discovered Proteins Essential to Development of Skeletal Muscle, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The 11th cranial nerve, which sends motor impulses to the muscles of the upper thorax, back, shoulders, and pharynx.

(Accessory Nerve, NCI Thesaurus)

A drug used to treat anxiety and tension and to relax muscles.

(Midazolam, NCI Dictionary)

An oxazolidinone with centrally-acting skeletal muscle relaxant properties.

(Metaxalone, NCI Thesaurus)

The disorders are characterized by muscle dysfunction.

(Metabolic Myopathy, NCI Thesaurus)

“My father!” cried I, while every feature and every muscle was relaxed from anguish to pleasure.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

On the evening of the third he rushed into our sitting-room, pale, trembling, with every muscle of his powerful frame quivering with excitement.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There was not a beggar upon the country side who did not know that his heart was as soft as his muscles were hard.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

On the other hand I should judge that you have led a life of ease for some months back, and that my muscle is harder than your own.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Your body can use this fuel right away, or it can store the energy in your body tissues, such as your liver, muscles, and body fat.

(Metabolic Disorders, NIH)