brawn

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“
Humans ascend the social hierarchy in part because of the size of their brains rather than due to their brawn (albeit in some settings such as in male prisons, brawn is a valuable trait to possess hence the obsessive focus on building muscles within the prison yards).

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Definitions (13)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. noun Solid and well-developed muscles, especially of the arms and legs.
  2. noun Muscular strength and power.
  3. noun Chiefly British The meat of a boar.
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Examples (50)

  • It flew off and bounced around without firing, and I had Jason's arms pinned before he could even respond And so that's pretty much how Steve Carr turned out not to be an entire flop in his first real detective case--brawn far more than brain Dad has fudged quite a few cases over the years to keep what Mom calls "the innocent guilty" from facing authority, but mostly when no serious harm was done. —  AHMM,July-August2006
  • Her narrow face with slanted cheekbones had a delicacy which appeared ill-suited to bear the designation brawn. —  The Ship Who Sang
  • And when you know what your brawn is going to say before he says it, then you'll have a little idea of the strain I'm currently under Kira Falernova and I were 3 years on this storkrun Doesn't signify. —  The Ship Who Sang
  • Amon sounded so disagreeable that Helva began to wonder just how much the brawn was at fault. —  The Ship Who Sang
  • They were the brawn, the retinues, recruited duck-eggs with less than one neurone apiece. —  Paid and Loving Eyes - Lovejoy - Jonathan Gash
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

sinew ·  venison ·  haunch
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, muscle, from Old French braon, meat, of Germanic origin; see bhreu- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English braun, brawn, muscle, boar's flesh, from Old French braon, a piece of flesh, = Provencal bradon, brazon, braon = Old Spanish brahon, from Old High German brāto (accusative brāton), a piece of flesh for roasting, Middle High German brāte, German braten, roast meat (= Anglo-Saxon brǣde, roast meat), from Old High German brātan, Middle High German brāten, German braten = Anglo-Saxon brǣdan = OFries. brēda= Dutch braden, roast, broil (cf. Danish brad, a joint of meat); cf. Greek πρήθειν, burn, blow into a flame.
 

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/brɔn/
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