Muscle Terminology

noun a painful, involuntary contraction of a muscle or muscles

verb to suffer from or experience cramps

• She experienced a severe cramp in her calf muscle during the marathon.
• I had to stop running because of a cramp in my side.
• Ugh, I hate when I get a cramp in my leg while working out.
• The cramp in their progress was due to unforeseen obstacles.

adjective lacking firmness or stiffness; limp

• The patient exhibited symptoms of flaccid paralysis in his lower limbs.
• I heard that guy fainted because his legs went all flaccid on him.
• Dude, your arm looks so flaccid after that intense workout.
• The team's performance was flaccid, lacking any energy or enthusiasm.

noun a flexible movement or exercise, typically involving the bending of a limb or muscle

verb to bend, stretch, or tense a muscle or limb

adjective able to be bent, twisted, or stretched easily

• The company decided to flex their financial muscle by acquiring a smaller competitor.
• I saw him flexing in the gym, showing off his muscles.
• She's always flexing on social media with her designer clothes and luxury vacations.
• His ability to adapt to different situations really allows him to flex his skills in various settings.

noun the muscles of the body collectively

• The athlete's thews were well-defined and powerful, allowing him to excel in his sport.
• Check out the thews on that guy, he must spend a lot of time at the gym!
• Those thews are looking swole, bro!
• Her thews of determination and perseverance helped her overcome all obstacles in her path.

noun a state of normal tension in the muscles, especially the muscles of the limbs, maintained by central nervous system control and in the absence of voluntary effort

• The physical therapist assessed the patient's muscle tonus to determine any abnormalities.
• I've been working out regularly to improve my tonus.
• I can feel my tonus getting better since I started going to the gym.
• The tonus of the team was high as they prepared for the championship game.