Muscle Meaning
/ˈmʌs.əl/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement.
nounAn organ composed of muscle tissue.
Sentence Examples
Muscle tissue consists of innumerable cells.
Hence 50 percent of the muscle can give way to fat.
Adrenaline was injected into the muscle.
CEFR Practice Quiz
To increase your ____ size, you must do strength training and eat enough protein.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
After working in the garden all day, I felt a sharp pain in my back ____, which made it very difficult for me to bend over or lift anything heavy.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English muscle, muscule, muskylle, and in part from Middle French muscle, from Latin mūsculus (“a muscle”, literally “little mouse”) because of the mouselike appearance of some muscles, from mūs (“mouse”). Doublet of mussel. More at mouse.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"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:
"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:
"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:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
To increase your ____ size, you must do strength training and eat enough protein.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
After working in the garden all day, I felt a sharp pain in my back ____, which made it very difficult for me to bend over or lift anything heavy.