1
as in forces
to cause (a person) to give in to pressure
he was muscled out of command by his opponents at military headquarters
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Recent Examples of muscles
One year later, the XFL muscles its way onto the national sports scene with its first two games.
—
Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Gringo Films does not sound like the kind of company that muscles its way into the global animation business.
—Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 29 Oct. 2025
Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Gringo Films does not sound like the kind of company that muscles its way into the global animation business.
—Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 29 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for muscles
Verb
-
New Yorkers deserve a system that protects them before harm occurs — not one that forces them to fight for years to reclaim what was already theirs.—
Darlene Mealy,
New York Daily News,
25 Apr. 2026
-
In her latest Netflix action effort, Theron plays a woman who sets off on a trip to Australia to soothe her grief but unwittingly crosses paths with Egerton’s unnerving hunter, who forces her into a game of cat and mouse.—
Savannah Salazar,
Vulture,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The overnight storms were part of a broader severe weather outbreak that is expected to continue April 28 as the system pushes farther east and new storms develop to the south.—
Brandi D. Addison,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2026
-
Castle Rock’s internal guidance pushes the story toward testing, consultations, and monitoring while pulling it away from hard claims about outcomes.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Yet the Gospel compels us to do just that.—
William E. Lori,
New York Daily News,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Perhaps that’s what compels me, somewhere in the middle of our lunch, to unmask.—
Zeba Blay,
SELF,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Charismatic and charming as ever, Gosling easily shoulders the job of being the only human onscreen for an epoch.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Mar. 2026
-
There is great skepticism about Ellison’s ability to make the high-wire act work while Paramount Skydance shoulders a mountain of debt supplied by a consortium that includes Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
However, the rotation of this filament clearly dominates how the galaxies within it spin, perhaps by funneling hydrogen gas along the dark-matter filament and onto the galaxies in a way that coerces their spin while providing further fuel for star formation.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
4 Dec. 2025
-
Haunted by the suspicious death of his ailing mother, Ali, a university professor, coerces his enigmatic gardener to execute a cold-blooded act of vengeance.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
14 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Before the Bride elbows her way into his life, Frank, ever so lonely, retreats into the world of movies.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
4 Mar. 2026
-
Chase Infiniti elbows into leading actress race Leave it to BAFTA voters to give a shout out one of the year’s biggest breakouts.—
Alex Ritman,
Variety,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
For the United States, the blockade squeezes Iran’s already weakened economy by denying it long-term cash flow.—
Michelle L. Price,
Fortune,
19 Apr. 2026
-
The waves, which were first used in Boston in 2011, help spread things out so that runners don’t have to walk after the start, when Main Street in Hopkinton squeezes to just 39 feet wide.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
19 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Muscles.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/muscles. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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