muscle
verb/ˈmʌsl/
/ˈmʌsl/
[intransitive, transitive] (especially North American English, informal)Verb Forms
Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they muscle | /ˈmʌsl/ /ˈmʌsl/ |
| he / she / it muscles | /ˈmʌslz/ /ˈmʌslz/ |
| past simple muscled | /ˈmʌsld/ /ˈmʌsld/ |
| past participle muscled | /ˈmʌsld/ /ˈmʌsld/ |
| -ing form muscling | /ˈmʌslɪŋ/ /ˈmʌslɪŋ/ |
- to move or move something in a particular direction by using your physical strength
- + adv./prep. He tried to muscle to the front of the line, but was forced back by security staff.
- muscle somebody/something + adv./prep. He muscled the ball up between two defenders.
Word Originlate Middle English: from French, from Latin musculus, diminutive of mus ‘mouse’ (some muscles being thought to be mouse-like in form).Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
Check pronunciation:
muscle