muscle

muscle
mus|cle1 W3S2 [ˈmʌsəl] n
[Date: 1300-1400; : French; Origin: Latin musculus 'little mouse, muscle, mussel', from mus 'mouse'; because a muscle moving looks like a mouse under the skin]
1.) [U and C]
one of the pieces of flesh inside your body that you use in order to move, and that connect your bones together
▪ Relax your stomach muscles , then stretch again.
▪ Regular exercise will help to strengthen your muscles .
▪ Beckham has pulled a muscle in his thigh and won't play tomorrow.
2.) not move a muscle
to stay completely still
▪ The soldier stood without moving a muscle.
3.) [U]
power or influence
military/economic/political etc muscle
▪ The unions have a lot of political muscle.
▪ The agreement will give the UN some muscle to enforce human rights.
4.) [U]
physical strength and power
▪ It took muscle to work in an old-fashioned kitchen.
put some muscle into it
(=used to tell someone to work harder)
→flex your muscles at ↑flex1 (2)
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COLLOCATES for sense 1
arm/leg/neck/stomach etc muscles
the muscles in your leg/arm/stomach etc
strengthen/build up your muscles
pull/strain a muscle (=injure a muscle)
flex your muscles (=bend your arm muscles so that people can see how strong you are)
muscle tissue/fibres (=the material that muscles are made of)
muscle tone (=the firmness of your muscles )
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
muscle 2
muscle2 v
muscle your way into/through etc sth
to use your strength to go somewhere
▪ Joe and Tony muscled their way through the crowd.
muscle in phr v
to use your power to get involved in or take control of something that someone else was doing, especially in business - used to show disapproval
muscle in on
▪ Banks are muscling in on the insurance business.

Dictionary of contemporary English. 2013.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • muscle — [ myskl ] n. m. • 1314; lat. musculus « petit rat » → 2. moule 1 ♦ Anat. Structure organique contractile qui assure les mouvements. ⇒ motricité. Relatif aux muscles. ⇒ musculaire, musculeux; my(o) , sarco . Le muscle est fait de cellules en… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • musclé — muscle [ myskl ] n. m. • 1314; lat. musculus « petit rat » → 2. moule 1 ♦ Anat. Structure organique contractile qui assure les mouvements. ⇒ motricité. Relatif aux muscles. ⇒ musculaire, musculeux; my(o) , sarco . Le muscle est fait de cellules… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Muscle — {{{Caption}}} modifier  …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Muscle — is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. There are three types of muscle in the body. Muscle which is responsible for moving extremities and external areas of the body is called "skeletal muscle." Heart… …   Medical dictionary

  • Muscle — Mus cle (m[u^]s l), n. [F., fr. L. musculus a muscle, a little mouse, dim. of mus a mouse. See {Mouse}, and cf. sense 3 (below).] 1. (Anat.) (a) An organ which, by its contraction, produces motion. See Illust. of Muscles of the Human Body, in… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • MUSCLE — (multiple sequence comparison by log expectation) is public domain, multiple sequence alignment software for protein and nucleotide sequences.cite journal |author=Edgar RC |title=MUSCLE: multiple sequence alignment with high accuracy and high… …   Wikipedia

  • muscle — MUSCLE. s. m. Partie charnüe & fibreuse, & l organe des mouvements de l animal. Le gros muscle. muscle large. les muscles de la face. les muscles des bras, des jambes &c. le tendon d un muscle. les fibres des muscles. l origine des muscles …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • muscle in on — (something) to force a way into someone s business or other relationships in order to control them. Russell was the governor s closest friend, and he didn t like it when someone tried to muscle in on that relationship. These people pretended to… …   New idioms dictionary

  • muscle — Muscle, Musculus. le muscle, c est à dire, la partie charnue de tout le corps, en laquelle git la force, soit és cuisses ou és bras, Lacertus. Muscle spasmé et retiré, Conuulsus musculus …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • muscle — [mus′əl] n. [Fr < L musculus, a muscle, lit., little mouse (from the fancied resemblance between the movements of a mouse and muscle), dim. of mus,MOUSE] 1. any of the body organs consisting of bundles of cells or fibers that can be contracted …   English World dictionary

  • muscle — mus cle, v. t. 1. To compel by threat of force; as, they muscled the shopkeeper into paying protection money. [PJC] 2. To moved by human force; as, to muscle the piano onto the truck. [PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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