often attributive
1
a
: a body tissue consisting of long cells that contract when stimulated and produce motion
b
: 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
muscled; muscling
ˈmə-s(ə-)liŋ 
: to move or force by or as if by muscular effort
muscled him out of office
: to make one's way by brute strength or by force
Synonyms
Examples of muscle in a Sentence
Noun
the muscles of the arm
an athlete with bulging muscles
He pulled a muscle playing tennis.
She has a strained muscle in her back.
She started lifting weights to build muscle.
She doesn't have the muscle to lift something so heavy.
Verb
They muscled the heavy boxes onto the truck.
They muscled the furniture up the stairs.
He muscled through the crowd.
They muscled into line behind us.
Recent Examples on the Web
Gabrielle Kassel, Health, 14 Apr. 2024
Abdominal muscles, usually referred to as abs, are a set of muscles located toward the front of one's body that consist of five main muscles: external obliques, internal obliques, transversus abdominis, rectus abdominis and pyramidalis.
—Daryl Austin, USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2024
The patient could have a ruptured tendon or muscle, but that kind of injury would make movement difficult, and the patient had moved her arm easily.
—Lisa Sanders, M.d., New York Times, 12 Apr. 2024
Traditionally, lactate threshold has been a critical measure of athletic performance by pinpointing exercise intensity when lactate starts to rise in muscles and blood.
—Travis Nemkov, Discover Magazine, 11 Apr. 2024
By tightening the muscles surrounding its eardrum and extending its abdomen, the male cicada can alter the volume and pitch of its love song.
—The Courier-Journal, 10 Apr. 2024
For instance: After pulling a muscle onstage, the actress had to go straight into physical therapy following a recent video interview from her London dressing room, depriving her of a chance to relay a treasured theatrical anecdote.
—Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2024
Key to that will be activating Costner’s muscle at the box office after a decades-long career, and luring in fans from that other Western of his on the small screen, Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone.
—Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Apr. 2024
For example, filler to restore volume under the skin or under muscles of the face, laser to treat the skin’s surface, and relaxing or reducing movement in areas that wrinkle or furrow.
—Ingrid Schmidt, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Apr. 2024
Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 24 Mar. 2024
The doctors at his autopsy marveled that below his head, his body was superbly muscled.
—Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Mar. 2024
The Zone of Interest In another year, Netflix might have muscled Spain’s Society of the Snow to a win.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Mar. 2024
Did the warm sea surface temperatures muscle out El Niño?
—USA TODAY, 4 Mar. 2024
Instead, sometime after midnight, military vehicles arrived, and a cluster of soldiers muscled their way in, fanned out, and pointed machine guns at the students.
—Alma Guillermoprieto, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
After muscling aside Volkswagen AG as China’s bestselling carmaker, BYD is expanding in Europe to create fresh revenue streams and escape a bruising price war in its home market.
—Stefan Nicola, Fortune, 26 Feb. 2024
Each side of the schism accused the other of trying to muscle their way into power.
—Jolene Almendarez, The Enquirer, 27 Feb. 2024
Midway through the quarter Marina’s Barak Simon muscled his way to the basket for a driving layup to tie it 51-51.
—Steve Fryer, Orange County Register, 14 Feb. 2024
Noun
Helps increase strength: A study published in 2021 found that muscles have a circadian rhythm similar to the sleep-wake cycle.
—Gabrielle Kassel, Health, 14 Apr. 2024
Abdominal muscles, usually referred to as abs, are a set of muscles located toward the front of one's body that consist of five main muscles: external obliques, internal obliques, transversus abdominis, rectus abdominis and pyramidalis.
—Daryl Austin, USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2024
The patient could have a ruptured tendon or muscle, but that kind of injury would make movement difficult, and the patient had moved her arm easily.
—Lisa Sanders, M.d., New York Times, 12 Apr. 2024
Traditionally, lactate threshold has been a critical measure of athletic performance by pinpointing exercise intensity when lactate starts to rise in muscles and blood.
—Travis Nemkov, Discover Magazine, 11 Apr. 2024
By tightening the muscles surrounding its eardrum and extending its abdomen, the male cicada can alter the volume and pitch of its love song.
—The Courier-Journal, 10 Apr. 2024
For instance: After pulling a muscle onstage, the actress had to go straight into physical therapy following a recent video interview from her London dressing room, depriving her of a chance to relay a treasured theatrical anecdote.
—Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2024
Key to that will be activating Costner’s muscle at the box office after a decades-long career, and luring in fans from that other Western of his on the small screen, Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone.
—Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Apr. 2024
For example, filler to restore volume under the skin or under muscles of the face, laser to treat the skin’s surface, and relaxing or reducing movement in areas that wrinkle or furrow.
—Ingrid Schmidt, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Apr. 2024
Verb
The North Carolina Tar Heels weathered a few Michigan State punches early then went on a run of their own before muscling their way out of Charlotte and into the Sweet 16 — a show of toughness and great shooting and a potential that might make national punditry rear its collective head.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 24 Mar. 2024
The doctors at his autopsy marveled that below his head, his body was superbly muscled.
—Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Mar. 2024
The Zone of Interest In another year, Netflix might have muscled Spain’s Society of the Snow to a win.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Mar. 2024
Did the warm sea surface temperatures muscle out El Niño?
—USA TODAY, 4 Mar. 2024
Instead, sometime after midnight, military vehicles arrived, and a cluster of soldiers muscled their way in, fanned out, and pointed machine guns at the students.
—Alma Guillermoprieto, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
After muscling aside Volkswagen AG as China’s bestselling carmaker, BYD is expanding in Europe to create fresh revenue streams and escape a bruising price war in its home market.
—Stefan Nicola, Fortune, 26 Feb. 2024
Each side of the schism accused the other of trying to muscle their way into power.
—Jolene Almendarez, The Enquirer, 27 Feb. 2024
Midway through the quarter Marina’s Barak Simon muscled his way to the basket for a driving layup to tie it 51-51.
—Steve Fryer, Orange County Register, 14 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'muscle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Video
When Body Parts Are Also Verbs
Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes
Dictionary Entries Near muscle
Cite this Entry
“Muscle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/muscle. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
muscle
1 of 2 noun
mus·cle
ˈməs-əl
1
a
: a body tissue consisting of long cells that can contract and produce motion
b
: an organ that is a mass of muscle tissue attached at either end to a fixed point (as to bones) and that by contracting moves or stops the movement of a body part
2
a
: muscular strength : brawn
b
: power entry 1 sense 2
lacks the muscle to make good on campaign promises
muscle
2 of 2 verb
muscled; muscling
ˈməs-(ə-)liŋ
1
: to force from a position
was muscled out of office by political opponents
2
: to force one's way
muscled through the crowd
Etymology
Noun
from Latin musculus "muscle, little mouse," from mus "mouse"
Word Origin
People today are perhaps unlikely to think of their muscles as resembling mice. The ancient Romans, however, saw a likeness, especially in the major muscles of the arms and legs. For that reason the Latin word musculus, which originally meant "little mouse," came to be used to mean "muscle."
Medical Definition
muscle
noun
mus·cle
ˈməs-əl
often attributive
1
: a body tissue consisting of long cells that contract 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 sense 1, antagonist sense a, synergist sense 2
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