1
as in power
muscular strength
I'm going to need someone with real muscle to help me move all this furniture
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in strength
the ability to exert effort for the accomplishment of a task
at the time the military lacked the muscle to fight two wars at once
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to force
to cause (a person) to give in to pressure
he was muscled out of command by his opponents at military headquarters
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of muscle
John J. Houlihan Jr, Hartford Courant, 25 May 2025
The scapula is the shoulder blade, and the area around it is muscle.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 May 2025
Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 21 Mar. 2025
Norris was open about his weekend struggles after slumping to sixth in qualifying, only to quickly make up ground off the line by muscling his way up to P3 on the opening lap.
—Luke Smith, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for muscle
Noun
The dog tore through the flesh, muscle, and tendons, down to the bones in Mrs. D’Aleo’s left leg.
—John J. Houlihan Jr, Hartford Courant, 25 May 2025
The scapula is the shoulder blade, and the area around it is muscle.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 May 2025
Verb
Queen is a brawny, physical big who muscled through opponents to average 19.5 points and 10.8 rebounds this season.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 21 Mar. 2025
Norris was open about his weekend struggles after slumping to sixth in qualifying, only to quickly make up ground off the line by muscling his way up to P3 on the opening lap.
—Luke Smith, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for muscle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for muscle
Noun
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Fill Power Fill power of the comforter can be a consideration when choosing the right comforter for you and your climate.—
Rebecca Jones,
Southern Living,
30 May 2025
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The power of trauma lies in its ability to diminish our sense of current safety and future stability.—
Clare Morell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 May 2025
Noun
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On the services side, leisure and hospitality (38,000) and financial activities (20,000) provided some signs of strength.—
Jeff Cox,
CNBC,
4 June 2025
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Rather than demanding Arab and Muslim partners choose sides, Trump understands that a prosperous Gulf can engage from strength.—
Jason D. Greenblatt,
semafor.com,
4 June 2025
Verb
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Set in the winter of 1591, the play unfolds across three clandestine meetings where the rival playwrights are forced into creative collaboration amid a climate of conspiracy and paranoia.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
30 May 2025
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That gives you a puncher’s chance against a team that runs on makes and misses and forces defensive miscues by sheer virtue of its pace of play.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
30 May 2025
Verb
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As Nuno pointed out, the player of the season award could reasonably have been renamed the ‘team of the season award’ during a campaign in which Forest followed up back-to-back fights against relegation by pushing for Champions League qualification.—
Paul Taylor,
New York Times,
28 May 2025
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Florida’s educators are the backbone of our society, yet they are being pushed to the margins by inadequate pay.—
LaKeisha Wells-Palmer,
Sun Sentinel,
27 May 2025
Noun
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Ice paddles were stored in direct contact with raw chicken, beef and pork in the standup freezer.—
Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado,
Sacbee.com,
30 May 2025
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The recall notice didn’t specify the size of the wood fragments that were found in the beef stew.—
Bruce Y. Lee,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2025
Noun
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All this Cancer energy will be just one note in a larger harmony, as Jupiter enters Cancer next week and stays until July 2026.—
Colin Bedell,
Them.,
30 May 2025
-
High-level autonomy is responsible for scheduling and prioritizing tasks within a limited energy budget.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
30 May 2025
Verb
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The alleged kidnappers shocked the victim with electric wires, held him upside down from the top of a staircase, cut his leg with a saw and threatened to kill his family in a bid to coerce their Italian hostage to unlock his Bitcoin account, prosecutors said.—
Colin Mixson,
New York Daily News,
30 May 2025
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Swat is coerced into taking on the role or finally getting legal comeuppances for all of his misdeeds and ends up taking on solving the mystery of a series of disappearances plaguing Echo city.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
29 May 2025
Verb
-
In some towns, utility poles were removed so the caravans could squeeze through.—
Angela Jackson,
Forbes.com,
5 June 2025
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Hundreds of people squeezed into the Jewish Community Center in Boulder, Colo., for a vigil that featured prayer, singing and emotional testimony from a victim and witnesses of the firebombing attack in the city’s downtown, after a federal judge blocked the deportation of the suspect’s family.—
Colleen Slevin,
Los Angeles Times,
5 June 2025
Video
When Body Parts Are Also Verbs
Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes
Cite this Entry
“Muscle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/muscle. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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