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muscle

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mus⋅cle

  [muhs-uhl] noun, verb, -cled, -cling, adjective
Use muscle in a Sentence
–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.
4. power or force, esp. of a coercive nature: They put muscle into their policy and sent the marines.
5. lean meat.
6. Slang.
a. a hired thug or thugs.
b. a bodyguard or bodyguards: a gangster protected by muscle.
7. a necessary or fundamental thing, quality, etc.: The editor cut the muscle from the article.
–verb (used with object)
8. Informal. to force or compel others to make way for: He muscled his way into the conversation.
9. to make more muscular: The dancing lessons muscled her legs.
10. to strengthen or toughen; put muscle into.
11. Informal. to accomplish by muscular force: to muscle the partition into place.
12. Informal. to force or compel, as by threats, promises, influence, or the like: to muscle a bill through Congress.
–verb (used without object)
13. Informal. to make one's way by force or fraud (often fol. by in or into).
–adjective
14. Informal. (of a machine, engine, or vehicle) being very powerful or capable of high-speed performance: a muscle power saw.
Origin:
1525–35; < L mūsculus lit., little mouse (from fancied resemblance to some muscles), equiv. to mūs mouse + -culus -cle 1

Related forms:
mus⋅cle⋅less, adjective
muscly, adjective

Synonyms:
3. power, vigor, might, force.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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mus·cle   (mŭs'əl)   
n.  

  1. A tissue composed of fibers capable of contracting to effect bodily movement.

  2. A contractile organ consisting of a special bundle of muscle tissue, which moves a particular bone, part, or substance of the body: the heart muscle; the muscles of the arm.

  3. Muscular strength: enough muscle to be a high jumper.

  4. Informal Power or authority: put some muscle into law enforcement.

v.   mus·cled, mus·cling, mus·cles Informal

v.   intr.
To make one's way by or as if by force: muscled into the conversation.
v.   tr.
To move or force with strength: muscled legislation through Congress.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin mūsculus, diminutive of mūs, mouse; see mūs- in Indo-European roots.]
mus'cly adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

muscle 
1533, from L. musculus "a muscle," lit. "little mouse," dim. of mus "mouse" (see mouse). So called because the shape and movement of some muscles (notably biceps) were thought to resemble mice. The analogy was made in Gk., too, where mys is both "mouse" and "muscle," and its comb. form gives the medical prefix my-/myo-. Cf. also O.C.S. mysi "mouse," mysica "arm;" Ger. Maus "mouse, muscle," Arabic 'adalah "muscle," 'adal "field mouse." Fig. sense of "force, violence, threat of violence" is 1930, Amer.Eng. The verb first recorded 1913, "to accomplish by strength;" to muscle in is 1929 in underworld slang. Muscle-man was originally (1929) "an underworld enforcer;" sense of "strong man" first attested 1952. Muscle-bound is first recorded 1879. Muscle car "hot rod" is from 1969. Muscular Christianity (1857) is originally in ref. to philosophy of Anglican clergyman and novelist Charles Kingsley (1819-75).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: mus·cle
Pronunciation: 'm&s-&l
Function: noun
often attributive 1 : a body tissue consisting of long cells thatcontract when stimulated and produce motion —see CARDIAC MUSCLE, SMOOTH MUSCLE, STRIATED MUSCLE
2 : an organ that is essentially a mass of muscle tissue attached at either end to a fixed point and that by contracting moves or checks the movement of a body part —see AGONIST 1 ANTAGONIST a SYNERGIST 2
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

muscle mus·cle (mŭs'əl)
n.

  1. A tissue consisting predominantly of contractile cells and classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth, the last lacking transverse striations characteristic of the first two.

  2. Any of the contractile organs of the body by which movements of the various organs and parts are effected, and whose fibers are usually attached at each extremity to a bone or other structure by a tendon.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Science Dictionary
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
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Idioms & Phrases

muscle

In addition to the idiom beginning with muscle, also see flex one's muscles; move a muscle.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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