muscle

See also musclé

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From French muscle, from Latin mūsculus (“little mouse”), because of the mouselike appearance of some muscles, from Ancient Greek μῦς (mus, “mouse, muscle, mussel”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: mŭsʹəl, IPA: /ˈmʌsəl/, SAMPA: /"mVs@l/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌsəl
• Homophones: mussel

Noun

muscle (plural muscles)

1. (uncountable) A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement.

   Muscle consists largely of actin and myosin filaments.

2. (countable) An organ composed of muscle tissue.

   The muscles in his legs strained under the load.

3. (uncountable, figuratively) Strength.

   It took a lot of muscle to move the boulders.

4. (uncountable) Hired strongmen or bodyguards.
   • 1985 — Lance Parkin, The Infinity Doctors, p 34

     It was easy enough to dodge him, let him crash into the floorboards. Peltroc knew that his priority was the leader, not the hired muscle.

Derived terms

Terms derived from muscle (noun)

beer muscles cardiac muscle gym muscles involuntary muscle make a muscle Muscle Beach musclebound muscle boy muscle car muscled

muscledom muscle dysmorphia muscle in on muscleless muscleman muscle relaxant muscle shirt muscle tone muscle up

muscle-up muscled up muscular muscularity musculature muscly skeletal muscle smooth muscle voluntary muscle

Translations

contractile tissue

Arabic: عضلة (ar) (3áDala) f. Armenian: մկան (hy) (mkan) Bosnian: mišić (bs) m. Catalan: múscul (ca) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 肌肉 (cmn) (jīròu), 筋肉 (cmn) (jīnròu) Croatian: mišica (hr) Czech: sval (cs) m. Danish: muskel (da) Dutch: spier (nl) Esperanto: muskolo (eo) Finnish: lihaskudos (fi) French: muscle (fr) m. German: Muskel (de) m. Greek: μυς (el) (mys) m. Hebrew: שריר (he) (shrir) Hungarian: izom (hu) Icelandic: vöðvi (is) m. Ido: imusklo Indonesian: otot (id) Italian: muscolo (it) m. Japanese: 筋肉 (ja) (きんにく, kinniku) Korean: 힘살 (himsal), 근육 (筋肉, geunyuk) Lao: ກ້າມ (lo) Latin: musculus (la) m.

Latvian: muskulis (lv) m. Lithuanian: raumuo (lt) Macedonian: мускул (muskul) Maltese: muskolu (mt) m. Norwegian: muskel (no) Persian: ماهیچه (fa) Polish: muskuł (pl) m., mięsień (pl) m. Portuguese: músculo (pt) m. Romanian: mușchi (ro) Russian: мышца (ru) (mýšca) f., мускул (ru) (múskul) m. Serbian: Cyrillic: мишић (sr) m. Roman: mišić (sr) m. Slovak: sval (sk) Slovene: mišica (sl) f. Spanish: músculo (es) m. Swahili: msuli (sw) Swedish: muskel (sv) c. Tagalog: masel Telugu: కండరం (kanDaram) Turkish: kas (tr), adale (tr) Ukrainian: м'язи (m’jazy) Volapük: muskul (vo) Welsh: cyhyr (cy) m.

organ composed of muscle tissue

Armenian: մկան (hy) (mkan) Bosnian: mišić (bs) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 肌肉 (cmn) (jīròu), 筋肉 (cmn) (jīnròu) Finnish: lihas (fi) Greek: μυς (el) (mys) m. Icelandic: vöðvi (is) m. Japanese: 筋肉 (ja) (きんにく, kinniku) Latvian: muskulis m. Maltese: muskolu m. Polish: mięśnie pl.

Romanian: mușchi (ro) m. Russian: мышца (ru) (mýšca) f., мускул (ru) (múskul) m. Serbian: Cyrillic: мишић m. Roman: mišić m. Slovene: mišica (sl) f. Swahili: msuli (sw) Swedish: muskel (sv) c. Telugu: కండ (kanDa) Welsh: cyhyryn (cy) m.

strength

Arabic: قوة (ar) f. Bosnian: mišić (bs) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 力量 (cmn) (lìliàng) Finnish: voima (fi) French: muscle (fr) m. Greek: ρώμη (rómi) f., δύναμη (el) f.

Icelandic: styrkur (is) m. Russian: мускул (ru) (múskul) m., сила (ru) (síla) f. Serbian: Cyrillic: мишић m. Roman: mišić m. Swahili: msuli (sw) Telugu: కండబలం (kanDabalam)

See also

• myology
• myotomy

Verb

muscle (third-person singular simple present muscles, present participle muscling, simple past and past participle muscled)

1. To use force to make progress, especially physical force.

   He muscled his way through the crowd.

   • 1988, Steve Holman, "Christian Conquers Columbus", Ironman 47 (6): 28-34.

     Hensel and Wilson hit a series of leg shots simultaneously as Christian muscles between them with Quinn right on his heels.

Derived terms

• outmuscle

Translations

use force to make progress

Swahili: msuli (sw)

Related terms

• mouse
• mussel

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Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmuskɫə/, SAMPA: /"musk5@/

Noun

muscle m. (plural muscles)

1. shoulder

Synonyms

• espatlla

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French

Etymology

Latin musculus, literally ‘little mouse’.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /myskl/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

muscle m. (plural muscles)

1. muscle (contractile tissue, strength)

Verb

muscle

1. first-person singular present indicative of muscler
2. third-person singular present indicative of muscler
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of muscler
4. first-person singular present subjunctive of muscler
5. second-person singular imperative of muscler

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Middle French

Noun

muscle m. (plural muscles)

1. (anatomy) muscle