muscle

Alternative forms

• muskle

Etymology

From Middle English muscle, muscule, muskylle, from Latin mūsculus (“a muscle”, literally “little mouse”) because of the mouselike appearance of some muscles, from mūs (“mouse”). Doublet of mussel. More at mouse.

Pronunciation

• enPR: mŭsʹəl, IPA^(key): /ˈmʌs.əl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌsəl
• Homophone: mussel

Noun

muscle (countable and uncountable, plural muscles)

1. (uncountable) A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement.

   Muscle consists largely of actin and myosin filaments.

   Synonym: thew

2. (countable) An organ composed of muscle tissue.
   • 1912, Zane Grey, Riders of the Purple Sage, Chapter 8

     His brow and hair and the palms of his hands were wet, and there was a kind of nervous contraction of his muscles. They seemed to ripple and string tense.

   • 1945 August 17, George Orwell, chapter 1, in Animal Farm: A Fairy Story, London: Secker & Warburg, OCLC 3655473:

     You, Boxer, the very day that those great muscles of yours lose their power, Jones will sell you to the knacker […]

3. (uncountable, usually in the plural) A well-developed physique, in which the muscles are enlarged from exercise.
   • 2008, Lou Schuler, "Foreward", in Nate Green, Built for Show, page xii

     The fact that I was middle-aged, bald, married, and raising girls instead of chasing them didn't really bother me. Muscles are cool at any age.

4. (uncountable, figuratively) Strength, force.
   • 2010, Adam Quinn, US Foreign Policy in Context, page 81

     The lesson to be drawn from the events of 1914, to Roosevelt's mind, was that civilization needed muscle to defend it, not just solemn words.

   • 2013, John D. MacDonald, The Long Lavender Look, page 15

     It was going to take muscle to pluck Miss Agnes out of the canal.

5. (uncountable, figuratively) Hired strongmen or bodyguards.
   • 1985 — Lance Parkin, The Infinity Doctors, p 34

     It was easy enough to dodge him, let him crash into the floorboards. Peltroc knew that his priority was the leader, not the hired muscle.

Verb

muscle (third-person singular simple present muscles, present participle muscling, simple past and past participle muscled)

1. To use force to make progress, especially physical force.

   He muscled his way through the crowd.

   • 1988, Steve Holman, "Christian Conquers Columbus", Ironman 47 (6): 28-34.

     Hensel and Wilson hit a series of leg shots simultaneously as Christian muscles between them with Quinn right on his heels.

Related terms

• mouse

Homophones

• mussel

Anagrams

• clumse

Etymology

From Latin musculus, doublet of múscul and musclo.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /ˈmus.klə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈmus.kle/

Noun

muscle m (plural muscles)

1. shoulder

Etymology

From Middle French muscle, a borrowing from Latin mūsculus (“a muscle”, literally “little mouse”). See also the inherited doublet moule (“mussel, clam”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /myskl/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

muscle m (plural muscles)

1. muscle (contractile tissue, strength)

Verb

muscle

1. first-person singular present indicative of muscler
2. third-person singular present indicative of muscler
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of muscler
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of muscler
5. second-person singular imperative of muscler

Further reading

• “muscle” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Noun

muscle m (plural muscles)

1. (anatomy) muscle

Etymology

From Latin mūsculus (“a muscle”, literally “little mouse”), from Ancient Greek μῦς (mûs, “mouse, muscle, mussel”).

Noun

muscle m (plural muscles)

1. (anatomy) muscle