muscle

plural muscles · alternative muscule

1. uncountableA contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement.

   Muscle consists largely of actin and myosin filaments.

   1 more example

   For as the Trunk of the Body, is kept from tilting forvvard by the Muſcules of the Back: So, from falling backvvard, by theſe of the Belly.

   1701, Nehemiah Grew, “Of the Use of Organized Bodies”, in Cosmologia Sacra: Or A Discourse of the Universe as It is the Creature and Kingdom of God. […], London: […] W[illiam] Rogers, S[amuel] Smith, and B[enjamin] Walford: […], →OCLC, 1st book, paragraph 18, page 27

   Synonyms: thew

2. countableAn organ composed of muscle tissue.

   You, Boxer, the very day that those great muscles of yours lose their power, Jones will sell you to the knacker […]

   1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC

   1 more example

   His brow and hair and the palms of his hands were wet, and there was a kind of nervous contraction of his muscles. They seemed to ripple and string tense.

   1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter VIII, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC

3. countableplural normallyuncountableA well-developed physique, in which the muscles are enlarged from exercise.

   2008, Lou Schuler, "Foreward", in Nate Green, Built for Show, page xii The fact that I was middle-aged, bald, married, and raising girls instead of chasing them didn't really bother me. Muscles are cool at any age.

4. figurativelyuncountableStrength, force.

   It was going to take muscle to pluck Miss Agnes out of the canal.

   2013, John D. MacDonald, The Long Lavender Look, page 15

   3 more examples

   The widely-backed campaign to recall Evan Mecham as governor of Arizona gained even more muscle when the state House of Representatives voted to impeach the ultraconservative on February 5.

   1988 February 14, Elizabeth Pincus, “Arizona Impeaches Right-Wing Governor”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 30, page 1

   The lesson to be drawn from the events of 1914, to Roosevelt's mind, was that civilization needed muscle to defend it, not just solemn words.

   2010, Adam Quinn, US Foreign Policy in Context, page 81

   How can the unions - or more specifically the RMT—possibly think this is a good time to exert a bit of industrial muscle and indulge in strikes both on the national railway and the London Underground?

   2022 January 12, Christian Wolmar, “A new year... but the same old mistakes are being made”, in RAIL, number 948, pages 40–41

5. figurativelyuncountableHired strongmen or bodyguards.

   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.

   1985, Lance Parkin, The Infinity Doctors, page 34

present singular third person muscles · participle present muscling · participle past muscled · past muscled

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

   He muscled his way through the crowd.

   3 more examples

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

   1988, Steve Holman, “Christian Conquers Columbus”, in Ironman, 47 (6): 28-34

   Nothing the Nebraskans ever again recorded managed to muscle more than minimal attention.

   1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 236

   "Here!" I passed out stacks of money. T.C. hadn't had time to batch it up, so some of it was just laying loose in money bags and I passed all that shit out to Rome while Pimp muscled Miss Lady around.

   2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 112

2. intransitiveTo move forcefully or with great strength.

   She muscled through the ruins.