Muscular definition |Dictionary.com

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muscular

6 dictionary results for: Muscular

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

mus·cu·lar

[muhs-kyuh-ler] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	of or pertaining to muscle or the muscles: muscular strain.

2.	dependent on or affected by the muscles: muscular strength.

3.	having well-developed muscles; brawny.

4.	vigorously and forcefully expressed, executed, performed, etc., as if by the use of a great deal of muscular power: a muscular response to terrorism.

5.	broad and energetic, esp. with the implication that subtlety and grace are lacking: a muscular style.

6.	reflected in physical activity and work: a muscular religion.

7.	Informal. having or showing power; powerful: a muscular vehicle.

[Origin: 1675–85; < L mūscul(us) muscle + -ar¹

]

—Related forms

mus·cu·lar·i·ty, noun

mus·cu·lar·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 3. sinewy; strong, powerful; stalwart, sturdy.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

mus·cu·lar (mŭs'kyə-lər) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Of, relating to, or consisting of muscle: muscular contraction.
Having well-developed muscles: a muscular build.
Having or suggesting great forcefulness, especially at the expense of subtlety: muscular reasoning that does not bother with the finer points; muscular advocacy groups.

[From Latin mūsculus, muscle; see muscle.]

mus'cu·lar'i·ty (-lār'ĭ-tē) n., mus'cu·lar·ly adv.

Synonyms: These adjectives mean strong and powerfully built: a muscular build; an athletic swimmer; brawny arms; a burly stevedore; a lean and sinewy frame.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

muscular
adjective
1.	of or relating to or consisting of muscle; "muscular contraction"
2.	having a robust muscular body-build characterized by predominance of structures (bone and muscle and connective tissue) developed from the embryonic mesodermal layer [syn: mesomorphic] [ant: ectomorphic, endomorphic]
3.	having or suggesting great physical power or force; "the muscular and passionate Fifth Symphony"
4.	(of a person) possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful; "a hefty athlete"; "a muscular boxer"; "powerful arms" [syn: brawny]

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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

muscle (mŭs'əl) Pronunciation Key

A body tissue composed of sheets or bundles of cells that contract to produce movement or increase tension. Muscle cells contain filaments made of the proteins actin and myosin, which lie parallel to each other. When a muscle is signaled to contract, the actin and myosin filaments slide past each other in an overlapping pattern. Skeletal muscle effects voluntary movement and is made up of bundles of elongated cells (muscle fibers), each of which contains many nuclei. Smooth muscle provides the contractile force for the internal organs and is controlled by the autonomic nervous system. Smooth muscle cells are spindle-shaped and each contains a single nucleus. Cardiac muscle makes up the muscle of the heart and consists of a meshwork of striated cells.

muscular adjective

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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

muscular mus·cu·lar (mŭs'kyə-lər)
adj.

Of, relating to, or consisting of muscle.
Having or characterized by well-developed muscles.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Muscular

Mus"cu*lar\, a. [Cf. F. musculaire. See Muscle.]

1. Of or pertaining to a muscle, or to a system of muscles; consisting of, or constituting, a muscle or muscles; as, muscular fiber.

Great muscular strength, accompanied by much awkwardness. --Macaulay.

2. Performed by, or dependent on, a muscle or the muscles. "The muscular motion." --Arbuthnot.

3. Well furnished with muscles; having well-developed muscles; brawny; hence, strong; powerful; vigorous; as, a muscular body or arm.

Muscular Christian, one who believes in a part of religious duty to maintain a healthful and vigorous physical state. --T. Hughes.

Muscular CHristianity. (a) The practice and opinion of those Christians who believe that it is a part of religious duty to maintain a vigorous condition of the body, and who therefore approve of athletic sports and exercises as conductive to good health, good morals, and right feelings in religious matters. --T. Hughes. (b) An active, robust, and cheerful Christian life, as opposed to a meditative and gloomy one. --C. Kingsley.

Muscular excitability (Physiol.), that property in virtue of which a muscle shortens, when it is stimulated; irritability.

Muscular sense (Physiol.), muscular sensibility; the sense by which we obtain knowledge of the condition of our muscles and to what extent they are contracted, also of the position of the various parts of our bodies and the resistance offering by external objects.

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