sinew

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“
The word sinew, by the way, is exactly equal to our word nerve, and ayenward, as our author would say.

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Definitions (20)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. noun A tendon.
  2. noun Vigorous strength; muscular power.
  3. noun The source or mainstay of vitality and strength. Often used in the plural: "Good company and good discourse are the very sinews of virtue” (Izaak Walton).
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (10)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (4)

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Examples (50)

  • The hands were barred with sinew, the arms above them incredibly muscled. —  073 - The Freckled Shark
  • The warmth of his skin covering hard muscle and sinew, the clean masculine scent of soap…the sensual heat that was his alone. —  PurchasedByTheBillionaire
  • But the human sinew which is stronger than steel, actually, has not yet been developed The bronze man made his small, trilling noise. —  057 - The Sea Angel
  • A shock of blond hair topped over six feet of muscle and sinew, and a pungent cologne pricked David's nostrils Ellen set down her bags. —  AnalogSFF,June2006
  • Feel nothing but speed, nothing but the pull of muscle, sinew, and bone, working together in harmony as the miles disappeared behind me. —  Eclipse
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This word has been looked up 173 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

tendon ·  gristle ·  cartilage ·  marrow ·  muscle ·  gut ·  spine ·  musculature ·  brawn ·  hide ·  intestine ·  ligament

Used in the same contextWord Family

sinew:   sinews
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 (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English sinewe, from Old English sinewe, oblique form of seonu, sinu.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also sinnew; from Middle English sinewe, synewe, synowe, synow, senewe, sinwe, senwe, sinue, from Anglo-Saxon sinu, seono, sionu (sinw-, sinew-) =OFries. sini, sine, sin =Middle Dutch senuwe, senue, Dutch zenuw =Middle Low German sene =Old High German senawa, senewa, senuwa, Middle High German senewe, senwe, sene, German sehne =Icel, sin =Swedish sena =Danish sene =Gothic (Moesogothic) *sinawa (not recorded), a sinew; prob. Sanskrit snāva (for *sinava), a sinew; perhaps akin to Anglo-Saxon sāl =Old Saxon sēl =Old High German Middle High German Greek seil =Icelandic seil =Gothic (Moesogothic) *sail (inferred from deriv. insailjan) =Old Bulgarian silo, a cord, rope, and to Greek ἱμάς, a band; from a root *si, Lettish sinu, I bind, Skt, √ si (1st person present sinomi), bind.
  2. from sinew, n.
 

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/ˈsɪnju/
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