MUSCLE

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does muscle mean? 

• MUSCLE (noun)
  The noun MUSCLE has 5 senses:

1. one of the contractile organs of the body

2. animal tissue consisting predominantly of contractile cells

3. a bully employed as a thug or bodyguard

4. authority or power or force (especially when used in a coercive way)

5. possessing muscular strength

  Familiarity information: MUSCLE used as a noun is common.

• MUSCLE (verb)
  The verb MUSCLE has 1 sense:

1. make one's way by force

  Familiarity information: MUSCLE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MUSCLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

One of the contractile organs of the body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

muscle; musculus

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 2

Meaning:

Animal tissue consisting predominantly of contractile cells

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

muscle; muscular tissue

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 3

Meaning:

A bully employed as a thug or bodyguard

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

muscle; muscleman

Context example:

the drug lord had his muscleman to protect him

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

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

Sense 4

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

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

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

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

Sense 5

Meaning:

Possessing muscular strength

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

brawn; brawniness; heftiness; muscle; muscularity; sinew

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)

• MUSCLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they muscle    ... he / she / it muscles   
Past simple: muscled   
Past participle: muscled   
-ing form: muscling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make one's way by force

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

He muscled his way into the office

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

pass (go across or through)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

muscle (possessing muscular strength)

 Context examples 

The findings are different to that seen in non-pregnant animals, whereby exercise typically affects insulin signalling in the skeletal muscle.

(Exercise in pregnancy improves health of obese mothers by restoring their tissues, University of Cambridge)

As our bodies age, our muscles and joints can become stiff, making everyday movements more difficult.

(Cambridge scientists reverse ageing process in rat brain stem cells, University of Cambridge)

Martin caressed his swelling shoulder-muscles significantly.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Narcolepsy is a disorder that makes people feel excessively sleepy during the day and sometimes experience changes reminiscent of REM sleep, like loss of muscle tone in the limbs and hallucinations.

(The brain may actively forget during dream sleep, National Institutes of Health)

Upon exposure to light, the neurons fire to activate the muscles.

(Researchers build microscopic biohybrid robots propelled by muscles, nerves, National Science Foundation)

This rare cancer, which most often affects children, forms in soft tissue, mostly skeletal muscle tissue, and sometimes in hollow organs like the bladder or uterus.

(New Genes Found Responsible for Regulating Muscle Cells, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Since this muscle is similar to the adult heart, it could serve as a better model for testing the effects of drugs and toxic substances than current tissue-engineered heart models.

(Early stimulation improves performance of bioengineered human heart cells, National Institutes of Health)

I made notes of my patient’s pulse and temperature, tested the rigidity of his muscles, and examined his reflexes.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They, too, have muscles, of one kind and another, made to grip, and tear, and destroy; and when they come between me and life, I out-grip them, out-tear them, out-destroy them.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

She is not thin, but round like baby; her arm, her leg, her muscles, all soft and round like baby.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)