MUSCLES Synonyms: 56 Similar and Opposite Words

muscles

verb

present tense third-person singular of muscle

as in forces

to cause (a person) to give in to pressure he was muscled out of command by his opponents at military headquarters

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as in pushes

to force one's way muscling straight through the packed crowd of people waiting to board the ship

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of muscles Which muscles the farmer’s walk targets The move works nearly the entire body, but leg muscles, the core and shoulder muscles carry most of the load. — Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 24 July 2026 One year later, the XFL muscles its way onto the national sports scene with its first two games. — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2026 Gringo Films does not sound like the kind of company that muscles its way into the global animation business. — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 29 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for muscles

Verb

Coyote first hoodwinks and then forces Kevin into his lawsuit plans, taking Acme to task in a way the corporation, confident in its imperviousness, finds laughable.

— Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026
That forces them to interact with unknown adults that are outside the jurisdiction of the school.

— Michele Gile, CBS News, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of forces

Verb

Incoming low pressure from the west pushes away heat and allows better moisture to enter the state, raising rain chances as soon as Friday evening and increasing through the weekend.

— Tevian Whitehurst, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Most of life is complex and multifaceted, and reading is one of the only habits that pushes back against the instinct to see things in black and white.

— Mckenna Friedland, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of pushes

Verb

Washington also opposed another streaming regulation, known as Bill 109, passed in Quebec last December, which compels streaming platforms to prioritize French-language content.

— Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 25 Aug. 2026
Frank’s ruling keeps the proposal to raise the homestead exemption up to $250,000 for Florida property owners on the ballot, but compels Attorney General James Uthmeier to rewrite parts of the plan.

— Romy Ellenbogen Herald, Miami Herald, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of compels

Verb

There are also fears the plan may spark a lawsuit as tensions between the states over who shoulders the cuts bubble over.

— Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
Ashley Christopher, an attorney and Howard alumna whose son is a sophomore there, thinks Howard shoulders some blame.

— Matt Brown, Fortune, 8 Aug. 2026

Definition of shoulders

Verb

However, the rotation of this filament clearly dominates how the galaxies within it spin, perhaps by funneling hydrogen gas along the dark-matter filament and onto the galaxies in a way that coerces their spin while providing further fuel for star formation.

— Keith Cooper, Space.com, 4 Dec. 2025
Haunted by the suspicious death of his ailing mother, Ali, a university professor, coerces his enigmatic gardener to execute a cold-blooded act of vengeance.

— Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 14 Nov. 2025

Definition of coerces

Verb

If internal fluid pressure drops during aggressive extraction, the surrounding earth squeezes the cavern inward, permanently shrinking total storage capacity and crushing steel well casings.

— Siddharth Misra, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026
As engine speed rises, centrifugal force squeezes the drive clutch closed and pushes the belt farther outward.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of squeezes

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muscled

muscles

muscling

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“Muscles.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/muscles. Accessed 29 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of muscles

verb

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