*musc*

a. (Physiol.) Pertaining to the reaction (contraction) of the muscles under electricity, or their sensibility to it. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. emuscare to clear from moss; e out + muscus moss. ] A freeing from moss. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Idio- + muscular. ] (Physiol.) Applied to a semipermanent contraction of a muscle, produced by a mechanical irritant. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Anat.) Between muscles; as, intermuscular septa. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖prop. n.; pl. Muscae [ L., a fly. ] 1. (Zool.) A genus of dipterous insects, including the common house fly, and numerous allied species. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Formerly, a large part of the Diptera were included under the genus Musca. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Astron.) A small constellation situated between the Southern Cross and the Pole. [ 1913 Webster ]

Muscae volitantes [ L., flying flies. ] (Med.) Specks or filaments apparently seen moving or gliding about in the field of vision. Their appearance is often a symptom of disease of the eye, or of disorder of the nervous system. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ It. moscadello, moscatello, LL. muscatellum or muscadellum (sc. vinum), fr. muscatellus nutmeglike, dim. of muscatus smelling like musk, muscatum and muscata (sc. nux) nutmeg: cf. F. muscadelle, fr. Italian. See Musk and cf. Moschatel, Muscardin, Muscat, Nutmeg. ] See Muscatel, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

Quaffed off the muscadel. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A white grape grown esp. in the Loire Valley in France. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. A dry white wine from the Loire Valley in France. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ See Muscadel. ] 1. (Bot.) A name given to several very different kinds of grapes, but in America used chiefly for the scuppernong, or southern fox grape, which is said to be the parent stock of the Catawba. See Grapevine. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A fragrant and delicious pear. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) See Muscardin. [ 1913 Webster ]

Northern muscadine (Bot.), a derivative of the northern fox grape, and scarcely an improvement upon it. --
Royal muscadine (Bot.), a European grape of great value. Its berries are large, round, and of a pale amber color. Called also golden chasselas. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. L. muscus moss. ] (Bot.) An old name for mosses in the widest sense, including the true mosses and also hepaticae and sphagna. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) See Muskellunge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. muscadin a musk-scented lozenge, fr. muscade nutmeg, fr. L. muscus musk. See Muscadel. ] (Zool.) The common European dormouse; -- so named from its odor. [ Written also muscadine. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. ] A disease which is very destructive to silkworms, and which sometimes extends to other insects. It is attended by the development of a fungus (provisionally called Botrytis bassiana). Also, the fungus itself. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. muscarium fly brush + -form. ] Having the form of a brush. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Physiol. Chem.) A solid crystalline substance, C5H13NO2, found in the toadstool (Agaricus muscarius), and in putrid fish. It is a typical ptomaine, and a violent poison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. See Muscadel. ] (Bot.) A name given to several varieties of Old World grapes, differing in color, size, etc., but all having a somewhat musky flavor. The muscat of Alexandria is a large oval grape of a pale amber color. [ Written also muskat. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of, pertaining to, or designating, or derived from, a muscat grapes or similar grapes; as, muscatel grapes; muscatel wine, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A common name for several varieties of rich sweet wine, made in Italy, Spain, and France. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. Finest raisins, dried on the vine; “sun raisins.” [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Variously written moscatel, muscadel, etc. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ G., from muschel shell + kalk limestone. ] (Geol.) A kind of shell limestone, whose strata form the middle one of the three divisions of the Triassic formation in Germany. See Chart, under Geology. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ L. muscus moss. ] (Bot.) An order or subclass of cryptogamous plants; the mosses. See Moss, and Cryptogamia. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A natural family of Old World (true) flycatchers.
Syn. -- family Muscicapidae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ L. musca a fly + capere to catch. ] (Zool.) Of or pertaining to the Muscicapidae, a family of birds that includes the true flycatchers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Any fly of the genus Musca, or family Muscidae. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A natural family of two-winged flies esp. the housefly.
Syn. -- family Muscidae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Muscus + -form. ] (Bot.) Having the appearance or form of a moss. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Musca + -form. ] (Zool.) Having the form or structure of flies of the genus Musca, or family Muscidae. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A gray flycatcher of Southwestern U. S. and Mexico and Central America having a long forked tail and white breast and salmon and scarlet markings; the scissortailed flycatcher.
Syn. -- scissortail, scissortailed flycatcher. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F., fr. L. musculus a muscle, a little mouse, dim. of mus a mouse. See Mouse, and cf. sense 3 (below). ] 1. (Anat.) (a) An organ which, by its contraction, produces motion. See Illust. of Muscles of the Human Body, in Appendix. (b) The contractile tissue of which muscles are largely made up. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Muscles are of two kinds, striated and nonstriated. The striated muscles, which, in most of the higher animals, constitute the principal part of the flesh, exclusive of the fat, are mostly under the control of the will, or voluntary, and are made up of great numbers of elongated fibres bound together into bundles and inclosed in a sheath of connective tissue, the perimysium. Each fiber is inclosed in a delicate membrane (the sarcolemma), is made up of alternate segments of lighter and darker material which give it a transversely striated appearance, and contains, scattered through its substance, protoplasmic nuclei, the so-called muscle corpuscles. [ 1913 Webster ]

The nonstriated muscles are involuntary. They constitute a large part of the walls of the alimentary canal, blood vessels, uterus, and bladder, and are found also in the iris, skin, etc. They are made up of greatly elongated cells, usually grouped in bundles or sheets. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Muscular strength or development; as, to show one's muscle by lifting a heavy weight. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. [ AS. muscle, L. musculus a muscle, mussel. See above. ] (Zool.) See Mussel. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An essential part of something; as, budget cuts have gone beyond the fat and are cutting into the muscle of the government. [ PJC ]

5. Bodyguards or other persons hired to provide protection or commit violence; as, he doesn't go out without his muscle along. [ slang ] [ PJC ]

Muscle curve (Physiol.), contraction curve of a muscle; a myogram; the curve inscribed, upon a prepared surface, by means of a myograph when acted upon by a contracting muscle. The character of the curve represents the extent of the contraction. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To compel by threat of force; as, they muscled the shopkeeper into paying protection money. [ PJC ]

2. To moved by human force; as, to muscle the piano onto the truck. [ PJC ]

n. someone who does special exercises to develop the musculature; a bodybuilder. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. exercise that builds muscles through tension; bodybuilding.
Syn. -- bodybuilding, anaerobic exercise. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Furnished with muscles; having muscles; as, things well muscled. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a bully employed by a gangster. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

. The art of making discriminations between objects of choice, of discovering the whereabouts of hidden objects, etc., by inference from the involuntary movements of one whose hand the reader holds or with whom he is otherwise in muscular contact. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Fine Arts) Exhibition or representation of the muscles. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A good piece, the painters say, must have good muscling, as well as coloring and drapery. Shaftesbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. See Muskogees. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A term formerly applied to any mosslike flowerless plant, with a distinct stem, and often with leaves, but without any vascular system. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Muscus + -oid: cf. F. muscoide. ] (Bot.) Mosslike; resembling moss. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A superfamily of two-winged flies esp. the families: Muscidae; Gasterophilidae; Calliphoridae; and Tachinidae.
Syn. -- superfamily Muscoidea. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Muscus + -logy. ] Bryology. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. muscosus mossy, fr. muscus moss. ] Mossiness. Jonhson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Corrupted fr. Sp. mascabado; cf. Pg. mascavado, F. moscouade, n., formerly also mascovade, It. mascavato. ] Pertaining to, or of the nature of, unrefined or raw sugar, obtained from the juice of the sugar cane by evaporating and draining off the molasses. Muscovado sugar contains impurities which render it dark colored and moist. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Unrefined or raw sugar. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Muscovy glass. ] 1. A native or inhabitant of Muscovy or ancient Russia; hence, a Russian. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An inhabitant of Moscow. [ PJC ]

3. (Min.) Common potash mica, essentially KAl3Si3O10(OH)2. It is used as an electrical insulator. See Mica. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ A corruption of musk duck. ] (Zool.) A duck (Cairina moschata), larger than the common duck, often raised in poultry yards. Called also musk duck. It is native of tropical America, from Mexico to Southern Brazil. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ From Muscovy, the old name of Russia: cf. F. verre de Moscovie. ] Mica; muscovite. See Mica. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Great muscular strength, accompanied by much awkwardness. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Performed by, or dependent on, a muscle or the muscles. “The muscular motion.” Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Well furnished with muscles; having well-developed muscles; brawny; hence, strong; powerful; vigorous; as, a muscular body or arm. [ 1913 Webster ]

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; contractility. --
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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being muscular. Grew. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make muscular. Lowell. [ 1913 Webster ]