muscle

noun, often attributive

mus·cle | \ ˈmə-səl

Definition of muscle

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : 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

2a : muscular strength : brawn

b : effective strength : power political muscle

muscle

verb

muscled; muscling\ ˈmə-s(ə-)liŋ

Definition of muscle (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

: to move or force by or as if by muscular effort muscled him out of office

intransitive verb

: to make one's way by brute strength or by force

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about muscle

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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: Noun More than half of participants had side effects, including fatigue, chills, headache, muscle pain and pain at the injection site. — Theresa Waldrop, CNN, "These 3 Covid-19 vaccines have been in the news. Here's what you need to know about them," 6 Aug. 2020 Side effects from the lower doses of the vaccine were mild, and included fatigue, chills, headache or muscle pain. — Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press, "First Michigan patients get Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine through Henry Ford study," 6 Aug. 2020 More than 60% had other side effects, mostly headaches, muscle pain, and fatigue. — Damian Garde, STAT, "Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine shows promising immune response, early data show," 4 Aug. 2020 But having symptoms — a fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, muscle pain, new loss of taste or smell, vomiting or diarrhea and sore throat — isn’t enough to get a prisoner transferred to a unit with A/C. — Lauren Mcgaughy, Dallas News, "The heat is on: Texas inmates say they are battling COVID-19 in prisons with no A/C," 31 July 2020 The majority of bulk is muscle, all for more speed. — Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, "PGA’s RBC Heritage (6/20) third-round live stream: TV info, time, how to watch online," 20 June 2020 Along with pain and tear production, tear gas also causes exaggerated muscle cramping in the eyes and sensitivity to light that leads to eye closure, Glatter said. — USA Today, "'Less lethal' can still maim and kill: A visual guide to weapons police use on protesters," 20 June 2020 There were likely other factors too, but there is no doubt that the distributors were the muscle in this drama. — cleveland, "‘Insane bombshell’ in comics distribution world: Captain Comics," 11 June 2020 The Beavers non-conference schedule is show muscle. — oregonlive, "Oregon State expected to face Iowa in a neutral-site, non-conference men’s basketball game," 10 June 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb In a comeback poised to muscle its way into financial history, U.S. stocks are preparing to leave the bear market behind. — Hamza Shaban, Washington Post, "In stunning turnaround, U.S. stocks close in on record high, end of bear market," 13 Aug. 2020 Valeri fired an in-swinging free kick into the box and Larrys Mabiala did well to muscle off his defender, João Moutinho, and nod the ball into goal. — oregonlive, "Portland Timbers win MLS is Back tournament, capping off magical Cinderella run in virus-free bubble," 12 Aug. 2020 On his third and fourth albums, Hadreas muscled into more ambitious territory: his sound was layered, lush, shimmery and shuddering, with moments of aural sublimity underlined by allusions to decay and death. — Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker, "Perfume Genius Wants to Make You Feel Less Lonely," 12 May 2020 Malkin muscled the puck away from Charlie McAvoy, shoveled his dish by Sean Kuraly, and the comeback was complete. — Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, "Bruins squander 3-0 first-period lead, fall to Penguins," 19 Jan. 2020 Amazon muscled into the six-season Sky-BT Sport stranglehold on Premier League telecasts in Britain through its pay-tv channels by capturing live rights for entire rounds on the first midweek in early December and around Boxing Day on Dec. 26. — Washington Post, "Playing catch up: Premier League round to air live in UK," 2 Dec. 2019 This year’s reserves have taken just 24.2% of their shots from inside three feet, where so many fouls come from either on drives to the bucket or bigs muscling in the post, compared to last year’s group at 32.3%. — Nathan Brown, Indianapolis Star, "A breakdown of the Pacers' historic struggle to get to the free throw line this season," 22 Nov. 2019 Orlando City muscled out a draw during its final road game of the season on Sunday, with a stoppage time goal from Benji Michel leveling the score 1-1 against FC Cincinnati. — Julia Poe, Pro Soccer USA, "Three things we learned from Orlando City’s 1-1 draw to FC Cincinnati," 2 Oct. 2019 As the sun set on one of the warmer days of the year in San Francisco, Lia Ditton muscled her 21-foot rowboat under the Golden Gate Bridge, crossing the finish line of a 22-day solo journey at sea. — Taylor Kate Brown, SFChronicle.com, "Bay Briefing: Oakland’s sheds-for-homeless program — how effective is it?," 30 Sep. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'muscle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

15 Aug 2020

Cite this Entry

“Muscle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/muscle. Accessed 22 Aug. 2020.

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More Definitions for muscle

muscle

noun

English Language Learners Definition of muscle

(Entry 1 of 2)

: a body tissue that can contract and produce movement

: physical strength

: power and influence

muscle

verb

English Language Learners Definition of muscle (Entry 2 of 2)

: to move (something) by using physical strength and force

: to move forward by using physical force

See the full definition for muscle in the English Language Learners Dictionary

muscle

noun

mus·cle | \ ˈmə-səl

Kids Definition of muscle

1 : a tissue of the body consisting of long cells that can contract and produce motion

2 : an organ of the body that is a mass of muscle tissue attached at either end (as to bones) so that it can make a body part move

3 : strength of the muscles He doesn't have the muscle to lift that.

muscle

noun, often attributive

mus·cle | \ ˈməs-əl

Medical Definition of muscle

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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