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An organ which, by its contraction, produces motion. See Illust. of Muscles of the Human Body, in Appendix.

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.

Furnished with muscles; having muscles; as, things well muscled.

Of or pertaining to the abdomen; ventral; as, the abdominal regions, muscles, cavity.

A muscle which serves to draw a part out, or form the median line of the body; as, the abductor oculi, which draws the eye outward.

The strong tendon formed of the united tendons of the large muscles in the calf of the leg, an inserted into the bone of the heel; -- so called from the mythological account of Achilles being held by the heel when dipped in the River Styx.

going on in an organism; the performance of a function; as, the action of the heart, the muscles, or the gastric juice.

Bringing together or towards a given point; -- a word applied to those muscles of the body which pull one part towards another. Opposed to abducent.

A muscle which draws a limb or part of the body toward the middle line of the body, or closes extended parts of the body; -- opposed to abductor; as, the adductor of the eye, which turns the eye toward the nose. In the bivalve shells, the muscles which close the values of the shell are called adductor muscles. Verrill.…

A soft, unctuous, or waxy substance, of a light brown color, into which the fat and muscle tissue of dead bodies sometimes are converted, by long immersion in water or by burial in moist places. It is a result of fatty degeneration.

to that form of aphasia, called motor, or ataxis, aphasia, due to loss of control of the muscles of speech.

Wanting in muscle; without flesh.

treats of the structure of organic bodies; anatomical structure or organization. Let the muscles be well inserted and bound together, according to the knowledge of them which is given us by anatomy. Dryden.

A muscle of the elbow and forearm.

Nodding; as, annuent muscles (used in nodding).

A muscle which acts in opposition to another; as a flexor, which bends a part, is the antagonist of an extensor, which extends it.

ser of the deep fasciæ which cover, invest, and the terminations and attachments of, many muscles. They often differ from tendons only in being flat and thin. See Fascia.

Ladle-shaped; -- applied to two small cartilages of the larynx, and also to the glands, muscles, etc., connected with them. The cartilages are attached to the cricoid cartilage and connected with the vocal cords.

Liable to be affected by sympathy with other parts; -- said of organs, nerves, muscles, etc. The stomach, the most associable of all the organs of the animal body. Med. Rep.

other by a string, by glue, or the like. The shoulder blade is . . . attached only to the muscles. Paley. A huge stone to which the cable was attached. Macaulay.