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“Muscle” or “Mussel”

muscle / mussel are similar-sounding terms with different meanings (referred to as homophones). To better understand the differences, see below for definitions, pronunciation guides, and example sentences using each term.

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Definitions

What each term means

Same sound, different spellings and meanings, shown with a pronunciation guide for each term.

muscle m·AH·s·ah·l

  • nounone of the contractile organs of the body.
  • nounanimal tissue consisting predominantly of contractile cells.
  • nounauthority or power or force (especially when used in a coercive way).
  • verbmake one's way by force.

mussel m·AH·s·ah·l

  • nounblack marine bivalves usually steamed in wine.
  • nounmarine or freshwater bivalve mollusk that lives attached to rocks etc..
Usage

Examples in context

Real sentences for each spelling. Hover an example to copy it.

“muscle”

  • Mac was considered the "muscle" of the team while Molly…
  • …list with a strained back muscle.
  • …infant was noted to have muscle rigidity or abnormal eye movements…
  • Muscle wall thickness 3 millimeters (mm)…
  • …or by injection into a muscle.
  • …sustained involuntary contraction of a muscle after a prolonged voluntary contraction.
  • …the reflex contraction of rectal muscles, relaxation of the internal anal…
  • …hypertrophy of the pyloric sphincter muscle.
  • …this feature could help minimize muscle pain by preventing rapid body…
  • …the mitochondrial content of skeletal muscle.

“mussel”

  • …is a species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in…
  • …snail Bathynerita naticoidea can detect mussel beds containing the mussel Bathymodiolus…
  • This mussel is generally up to 10…
  • This mussel had a historical distribution in…
  • Leptodea leptodon, the scaleshell mussel or scale shell, is a…
  • Parent mussel provides no care once the…
  • …human bones, and quantities of mussel shells.
  • The fish host for this mussel species is the freshwater drum…
  • This mussel inhabits medium-sized to large rivers…
  • …Wabash pigtoe, is a freshwater mussel in the family Unionidae.

Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license. Definitions are drawn from WordNet.

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