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musclemore about muscle

muscle

 

  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Muscle  \Mus"cle\,  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 
 
  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.  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. 
 
  2.  Muscular  strength  or  development;  as  to  show  one's  muscle 
  by  lifting  a  heavy  weight.  [Colloq.] 
 
  3.  [AS.  muscle,  L.  musculus  a  muscle,  mussel.  See  above.] 
  (Zo["o]l.)  See  {Mussel}. 
 
  {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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  muscle 
  n  1:  one  of  the  contractile  organs  of  the  body  [syn:  {musculus}] 
  2:  animal  tissue  consisting  predominantly  of  contractile  cells 
  [syn:  {muscular  tissue}] 
  3:  muscular  strength  [syn:  {brawn},  {sinew}] 
  v  :  make  one's  way  by  force:  "He  muscled  his  way  into  the 
  office"




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