{
    "term": "muscle",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "b1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "a piece of body tissue that you make tight and relax in order to move a particular part of the body; the tissue that forms the muscles of the body",
            "labels": "(especially British English)(informal)(formal)(especially North American English)(British English)(especially British English)(North American English)(formal)(British English)(North American English)",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a calf/neck/thigh muscle"
                },
                {
                    "text": "All of this put strain on the heart muscle."
                },
                {
                    "text": "to pull/tear/strain a muscle"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He poses and **flexes his muscles** in the mirror."
                },
                {
                    "text": "This exercise will work the muscles of the lower back."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Contract and relax the muscles in your fingers a few times."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She tried to relax her tense muscles."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He felt every muscle in his body tighten."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He **didn't move a muscle** *(= stood completely still)*."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Lift weights to build muscle."
                },
                {
                    "text": "muscle fibre/tissue/mass"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The disease puts strain on the heart muscle."
                },
                {
                    "text": "His muscles rippled beneath his T-shirt as he worked."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I laughed so hard I almost pulled a muscle."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I walked up and down the aisle to stretch my cramped muscles."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Learn how to relax tense muscles."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Lifting weights sculpts muscle."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Suddenly my sore muscles protested and I let out a groan."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The muscles in my face tensed."
                },
                {
                    "text": "diet supplements to build muscle"
                },
                {
                    "text": "the muscles controlling speech production"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Body"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["hard", "powerful", "strong"],
                "verb + muscle": ["clench", "contract", "flex"],
                "muscle + verb": ["ache", "burn", "hurt"],
                "muscle + noun": ["cell", "fibre/​fiber", "tissue"],
                "preposition": ["muscle in"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "physical strength",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He's an intelligent player but lacks the muscle of older competitors."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I exerted every ounce of my miserable muscle power."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "the power and influence to make others do what you want",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "to exercise political/industrial/financial muscle"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The countries tried to flex their collective muscle."
                },
                {
                    "text": "This show gives the artist the chance to flex his creative muscle."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈmʌsl/",
                "audio": "mu/muscle/muscle__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈmʌsl/",
                "audio": "mu/muscle/muscle__us_2.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Middle English: from French, from Latin musculus, diminutive of mus ‘mouse’ (some muscles being thought to be mouse-like in form)."
}