Definition of 'muscle'
Word forms: muscles, muscling, muscled
1. variable noun
A muscle is a piece of tissue inside your body that connects two bones and which you use when
you make a movement.
2. uncountable noun
If you say that someone has muscle, you mean that they have power and influence, which enables them to do difficult
things.
3.
4.
See to move a muscle
Phrasal verbs:
See muscle in
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of
muscle
Word Frequency
muscle in American English
noun
1.
any of the body organs consisting of bundles of cells or fibers that can be contracted and expanded to produce bodily movements
2.
the tissue making up such an organ
3.
muscular strength; brawn
verb intransitiveWord forms: ˈmuscled or ˈmuscling
verb transitive Informal
6.
to move (something) by, or as by, muscular exertion
7.
to influence, pressure, etc. by force or threat of force
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
Fr < L musculus, a muscle, lit., little mouse (from the fancied resemblance between the movements
of a mouse and muscle), dim. of mus, mouseWord Frequency
muscle in American English
(ˈmʌsəl) (verb -cled, -cling)
noun
1.
a tissue composed of cells or fibers, the contraction of which produces movement in
the body
2.
an organ, composed of muscle tissue, that contracts to produce a particular movement
3.
muscular strength; brawn
It will take a great deal of muscle to move this box
transitive verb
9.
to make more muscular
The dancing lessons muscled her legs
10.
12. informal
to force or compel, as by threats, promises, influence, or the like
to muscle a bill through Congress
adjective
14. informal (of a machine, engine, or vehicle)
a muscle power saw
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
muscleless adjective
muscly
adjective
Word origin
[1525–35; ‹ L mūsculus lit., little mouse (from fancied resemblance to some muscles), equiv. to mūs mouse + -culus -cle1]Word Frequency
muscle in British English
noun
1.
a tissue composed of bundles of elongated cells capable of contraction and relaxation to produce movement in an organ or part
2.
an organ composed of muscle tissue
3.
strength or force
verb
4. (intr; often foll by in, on, etc) informal
to force one's way (in)
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
muscly (ˈmuscly) or muscley (ˈmuscley) adjective
Word origin
C16: from medical Latin musculus little mouse, from the imagined resemblance of some muscles to mice, from Latin mūs mouse
Examples of 'muscle' in a sentence
muscle
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muscle
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In other languages
muscle
British English: muscle
/ˈmʌsl/ NOUN
Your muscles are the parts inside your body that connect your bones, and that help you to move.
Exercise helps to keep your muscles strong.
- American English: muscle /ˈmʌsəl/
- Arabic: عَضَلَةٌ
- Brazilian Portuguese: músculo
- Chinese: 肌肉
- Croatian: mišić
- Czech: sval
- Danish: muskel
- Dutch: spier
- European Spanish: músculo
- Finnish: lihas
- French: muscle
- German: Muskel
- Greek: μυς
- Italian: muscolo
- Japanese: 筋肉
- Korean: 근육
- Norwegian: muskel
- Polish: mięsień
- European Portuguese: músculo
- Romanian: mușchi
- Russian: мышца
- Spanish: músculo
- Swedish: muskel
- Thai: กล้ามเนื้อ
- Turkish: kas
- Ukrainian: м'яз
- Vietnamese: cơ bắp
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Related terms of
muscle
Source
Definition of muscle from the Collins English Dictionary
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