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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

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]


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 Appendix.
(b) The contractile tissue of which muscles are largely
made up.
[1913 Webster]

Note: Muscles are of two kinds, striated and nonstriated. The
striated muscles, which, in most of the higher animals,
constitute the principal part of the flesh, exclusive
of the fat, are mostly under the control of the will,
or voluntary, and are made up of great numbers of
elongated fibres bound together into bundles and
inclosed in a sheath of connective tissue, the
perimysium. Each fiber is inclosed in a delicate
membrane (the sarcolemma), is made up of alternate
segments of lighter and darker material which give it a
transversely striated appearance, and contains,
scattered through its substance, protoplasmic nuclei,
the so-called muscle corpuscles.
[1913 Webster] The nonstriated muscles are involuntary.
They constitute a large part of the walls of the
alimentary canal, blood vessels, uterus, and bladder,
and are found also in the iris, skin, etc. They are
made up of greatly elongated cells, usually grouped in
bundles or sheets.
[1913 Webster]

2. Muscular strength or development; as, to show one's muscle
by lifting a heavy weight. [Colloq.]
[1913 Webster]

3. [AS. muscle, L. musculus a muscle, mussel. See above.]
(Zool.) See {Mussel}.
[1913 Webster]

4. An essential part of something; as, budget cuts have gone
beyond the fat and are cutting into the muscle of the
government.
[PJC]

5. Bodyguards or other persons hired to provide protection or
commit violence; as, he doesn't go out without his muscle
along. [slang]
[PJC]

{Muscle curve} (Physiol.), contraction curve of a muscle; a
myogram; the curve inscribed, upon a prepared surface, by
means of a myograph when acted upon by a contracting
muscle. The character of the curve represents the extent
of the contraction.
[1913 Webster]