sinew

noun sin·ew \ ˈsin-(ˌ)yü also ˈsi-(ˌ)nü \

Updated on: 27 Mar 2018

Definition of sinew

1 : tendon; especially : one dressed for use as a cord or thread

2 obsolete : nerve

3 a : solid resilient strength : power

astonishing intellectual sinew and clarity
—Reynolds Price

b : the chief supporting force : mainstay —usually used in plural

providing the sinews of better living
—Sam Pollock

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Examples of sinew in a Sentence

cutting through bone and sinew
the justices displayed great intellectual depth and sinew in writing their opinion on this case

Recent Examples of sinew from the Web

Fresh food in March, if people were lucky, was fish from traps set in ice and grouse and snowshoe hares snared with loops of sinew.

— ned rozell, Anchorage Daily News, "A scientist’s view of Alaska, 150 years ago," 11 Mar. 2018
Physically, football players represent the bobsled ideal — muscle-bound, all sinew and swagger, these five brought to the table the size and strength needed to propel roughly half-ton sleds down slippery tracks in speeds exceeding 85 mph.

— paul myerberg, USA TODAY, "2018 Winter Olympics: 'Football players are really bobsledders'," 18 Feb. 2018
For Everton's current crop of first-team stars, any last sinew of confidence drained away from them the moment that Lyon bagged their first - and slightly fortuitous at that - goal in the 3-0 victory in the Europa League on Thursday night.

— SI.com, "FanView: It's Time for Everton's Stars to Stop Feeling Sorry for Themselves," 3 Nov. 2017
Such a bold aim requires a commensurately bold argument — for a consumption tax or a carbon tax or a zero corporate tax rate or anything for which public-spirited people might stiffen their sinews and summon up their blood.

— george will, National Review, "On Tax Reform, Republicans are Defining Victory Down," 1 Nov. 2017
Instead, you’ll be presented with massive hunks of meat, fat and sinew, clinging to bones as long as your forearm.

— nicholas m. gallagher, WSJ, "The 5 Best Steakhouses in Buenos Aires: A Meat-Lover’s Guide," 12 Oct. 2017
Farley thinks the sinew tied around Lindow Man’s neck could as easily be a necklace as a garrote.

— christian als, Smithsonian, "Europe’s Famed Bog Bodies Are Starting to Reveal Their Secrets," 29 May 2017
Halvaesque limestone, discolored from age, stands in for the fondant-like décor: the tense buttresses rise and sprawl, sinew-like, up the walls.

— yuliya komska, Smithsonian, "Inside the House of Zyklon B," 10 Oct. 2017
Unlike the steel, oil and coal monopolies of the 19th century that out of grime and smoke created the sinews of a growing America, Silicon Valley gave us shiny, clean, green and fun pods, pads and phones.

— author: victor davis hanson, Alaska Dispatch News, "How Silicon Valley lost its cool and alienated both left and right," 4 Oct. 2017

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

Did You Know?

Many parts of the body have come to have figurative meanings in English. One can have an eye for interior design, for example, or the stomach for a fight. "Muscle," of course, can mean "strength," and so can "sinew," a word for the tissue that ties muscle to bone - more commonly known as a tendon. (For a while, "sinew" also meant "nerve," but that usage is obsolete.) The use of "sinew" to mean "the chief supporting force" ties into its anatomical function as a stabilizing unit. Sinew derives via Middle English from Old English "seono"; it is also related to Old High German senawa ("sinew") and Sanskrit "syati" ("he binds").