- muscle
- nounADJECTIVE▪ hard, powerful, strong▪ taut, tense, tight▪ relaxed▪ smooth▪ lean, ripped, toned▪ bulging, rippling▪ cramped▪
I walked up and down the aisle to stretch my cramped muscles.
▪ pulled, strained, torn▪ aching, sore, stiff, tired▪ abdominal, arm, calf, facial, heart, thigh, etc.▪ skeletalVERB + MUSCLE▪ clench, contract, flex, pump, squeeze, tense, tighten▪He flexed his muscles, then set off to run.
▪ loosen, relax▪Learn how to relax tense muscles.
▪ control▪ soothe▪ stretch▪ exercise, train, use, work▪ build, gain, strengthen, tone▪diet supplements to build muscle
▪ sculpt▪Lifting weights sculpts muscle.
▪ damage, exhaust, fatigue, injure, overload, weaken▪ pull, strain, tear▪I laughed so hard I almost pulled a muscle.
▪ knead, massage▪ activate, stimulate▪ paralyse/paralyzeMUSCLE + VERB▪ ache, burn, hurt▪ cramp▪ strain▪ clench, contract, flex, stiffen, tense, tighten▪ go limp, loosen, relax, slacken▪ stretch▪ quiver, ripple, tremble, twitch▪His muscles rippled beneath his T-shirt as he worked.
▪ bulge▪ move, work▪ control sth▪the muscles controlling speech production
▪ protest, scream▪Suddenly my sore muscles protested and I let out a groan.
MUSCLE + NOUN▪ cell, fibre/fiber, tissue▪ mass▪ group▪ function▪ activity▪ ache, cramp, damage, disease, fatigue, pain, paralysis, soreness, stiffness, strain, weakness▪ loss, wasting▪ contraction, relaxation, spasm, tension, twitch▪ definition, tone▪ size▪ endurance, strength▪ repair▪ gain, growth▪ building▪ builder▪ boy, man (usually muscleman), mary (BrE, informal)▪ shirt (AmE), tee (AmE), T-shirtPREPOSITION▪ muscle in▪The muscles in my face tensed.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.