muscle
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
muhsuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmʌsəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
uncountable
A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement.
usually in the plural
A well-developed physique, in which the muscles are enlarged from exercise.
uncountablefigurative
Strength, force.
Authority or power or force (especially when used in a coercive way)
“The senators used their muscle to get the party leader to resign.”
Possessing muscular strength
uncountablefigurative
Hired strongmen or bodyguards.
verb
Make one's way by force
“He muscled his way into the office.”
transitive
To use force to make progress, especially physical force.
intransitive
To move forcefully or with great strength.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement.
Used this way, muscle is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- musculus , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Authoritynoun
“The senators used their muscle to get the party leader to resign.”
Make / forceverb
“He muscled his way into the office.”
More ways to use muscle
- “He muscled his way into the office.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Someone who does special exercises to develop a brawny musculature.
Exercise that builds muscles through tension.
An elongated contractile cell that forms the muscles of the body.
A shortening or tensing of a part or organ (especially of a muscle or muscle fiber).
An elongated contractile cell that forms the muscles of the body.
An elongated contractile cell that forms the muscles of the body.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.