Hypertext Webster Gateway: "muscular"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Muscular \Mus"cu*lar\, a. [Cf. F. musculaire. See {Muscle}.]
1. Of or pertaining to a muscle, or to a system of muscles;
consisting of, or constituting, a muscle or muscles; as,
muscular fiber.

Great muscular strength, accompanied by much
awkwardness. --Macaulay.

2. Performed by, or dependent on, a muscle or the muscles.
``The muscular motion.'' --Arbuthnot.

3. Well furnished with muscles; having well-developed
muscles; brawny; hence, strong; powerful; vigorous; as, a
muscular body or arm.

{Muscular Christian}, one who believes in a part of religious
duty to maintain a healthful and vigorous physical state.
--T. Hughes.

{Muscular CHristianity}.
(a) The practice and opinion of those Christians who
believe that it is a part of religious duty to
maintain a vigorous condition of the body, and who
therefore approve of athletic sports and exercises as
conductive to good health, good morals, and right
feelings in religious matters. --T. Hughes.
(b) An active, robust, and cheerful Christian life, as
opposed to a meditative and gloomy one. --C. Kingsley.

{Muscular excitability} (Physiol.), that property in virtue
of which a muscle shortens, when it is stimulated;
irritability.

{Muscular sense} (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 WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

muscular
adj 1: of or relating to or consisting of muscle; "muscular
contraction"
2: (anatomy) having a robust muscular body-build characterized
by predominance of structures (bone and muscle and
connective tissue) developed from the embryonic mesodermal
layer [syn: {mesomorphic}] [ant: {ectomorphic}, {endomorphic}]
3: having or suggesting great physical power or force; "the
muscular and passionate Fifth Symphony"
4: (of a person) possessing physical strength and weight;
rugged and powerful; "a hefty athlete"; "a muscular
boxer"; "powerful arms" [syn: {brawny}, {hefty}, {powerful},
{sinewy}]


Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup

Enter word here:
Exact Approx


dict.stokkie.net
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents; see the Webster Gateway FAQ, and also the Back-end/database links and credits.