Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or consisting of muscle.
  • adjective Having well-developed muscles.
  • adjective Having or suggesting great forcefulness, especially at the expense of subtlety.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining in any way to muscle or muscles; composing, constituting, or consisting of muscle: as, the muscular system; muscular origin or insertion; muscular fiber or tissue.
  • Done by or dependent upon muscle or muscles: as, muscular action; muscular movement; muscular strength.
  • Well-muscled; having well-developed muscles; strong; sinewy; brawny: as, a muscular man.
  • Figuratively, strong and vigorous.
  • One of the fibers of which muscular tissue is ultimately composed.
  • Synonyms Sinewy, stalwart, sturdy, lusty, vigorous, powerful.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to a muscle, or to a system of muscles; consisting of, or constituting, a muscle or muscles.
  • adjective Performed by, or dependent on, a muscle or the muscles.
  • adjective Well furnished with muscles; having well-developed muscles; brawny; hence, strong; powerful; vigorous.
  • adjective one who believes in a part of religious duty to maintain a healthful and vigorous physical state.
  • adjective An active, robust, and cheerful Christian life, as opposed to a meditative and gloomy one.
  • adjective (Physiol.) that property in virtue of which a muscle shortens, when it is stimulated; irritability; contractility.
  • adjective (Physiol.) muscular sensibility; the sense by which we obtain knowledge of the condition of our muscles and to what extent they are contracted, also of the position of the various parts of our bodies and the resistance offering by external objects.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or connected with muscles.
  • adjective Brawny, having strength.
  • adjective Having large, well-developed muscles.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective (of a person) possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful
  • adjective having or suggesting great physical power or force
  • adjective having a robust muscular body-build characterized by predominance of structures (bone and muscle and connective tissue) developed from the embryonic mesodermal layer
  • adjective of or relating to or consisting of muscle

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin mūsculus, muscle; see muscle.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Borrowed from Latin mūsculāris in the 17th century.

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Examples

  • These are known as the _striated_, or striped, muscular tissue; the _non-striated_, or plain, muscular tissue; and the _muscular tissue of the heart_.

    Physiology and Hygiene for Secondary Schools Francis M. Walters

  • He provides extensive new details about the Taliban insurgency, which he calls a muscular and sophisticated enemy that uses modern propaganda and systematically reaches into Afghanistan's prisons to recruit members and even plan operations.

    D-Day 2009

  • He provides extensive new details about the Taliban insurgency, which he calls a muscular and sophisticated enemy that uses modern propaganda and systematically reaches into Afghanistan's prisons to recruit members and even plan operations.

    legitgov 2009

  • I have even heard it maybe one of the causes of the increase in muscular dystrophy for adults.

    Sweet Deception 2006

  • The pathway followed by small, watersoluble molecules in muscular capillaries is still under investigation.

    George E. Palade - Autobiography 1975

  • Later, Hopkins worked with Walter Fletcher on the metabolic changes occurring in muscular contractions and rigor mortis.

    Sir Frederick Hopkins - Biography 1965

  • Attempts have been made to follow the chemical processes involved in muscular activity by studying the changes of hydrogenion concentration by physical instruments.

    Archibald V. Hill - Nobel Lecture 1965

  • A subsequent work contained the starting-point for a new method of investigation, which made it possible to trace the development of heat in muscular movements in their various stages.

    Physiology or Medicine 1922 - Presentation Speech 1923

  • The work of the human organism is usually classified as muscular or intellectual.

    Increasing Human Efficiency in Business: A Contribution to the Psychology of Business 1910

  • True, he is not what you would term muscular, but still he has muscles, which is more than he had when he came aboard.

    The Sea Wolf Jack London 1896

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