sin·ew

(sĭn′yo͞o)

1. A tendon.

2. Vigorous strength; muscular power.

3. often sinews The source or mainstay of vitality and strength: "Good company and good discourse are the very sinews of virtue" (Izaak Walton).

tr.v. sin·ewed, sin·ew·ing, sin·ews

To strengthen with or as if with sinews.

[Middle English sinewe, from Old English sinewe, oblique form of seonu, sinu.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sinew

(ˈsɪnjuː)

1. (Anatomy) anatomy another name for tendon

2. (often plural)

a. a source of strength or power

b. a literary word for muscle

[Old English sionu; related to Old Norse sin, Old Saxon sinewa, Old High German senawa sinew, Lettish pasainis string]

ˈsinewless adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sin•ew

(ˈsɪn yu)

n.

1. a tendon.

2. Often, sinews. a source of strength, power, or vigor: the sinews of the nation.

3. strength; power; resilience: great moral sinew.

v.t.

4. to strengthen, as with sinews.

[before 900; Middle English; Old English sinu (nominative), sinuwe (genitive), c. Old Frisian sini, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Middle High German sene, Old Norse sin]

sin′ew•less, adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	sinew - a cord or band of inelastic tissue connecting a muscle with its bony attachment tendon connective tissue - tissue of mesodermal origin consisting of e.g. collagen fibroblasts and fatty cells; supports organs and fills spaces between them and forms tendons and ligaments collagen - a fibrous scleroprotein in bone and cartilage and tendon and other connective tissue; yields gelatin on boiling muscle system, muscular structure, musculature - the muscular system of an organism hamstring, hamstring tendon - one of the tendons at the back of the knee Achilles tendon, tendon of Achilles - a large tendon that runs from the heel to the calf
	2.	sinew - possessing muscular strength brawn, brawniness, heftiness, muscularity, muscle strength - the property of being physically or mentally strong; "fatigue sapped his strength"

sinew

noun

The state or quality of being physically strong:

brawn, might, muscle, potence, potency, power, powerfulness, puissance, strength, thew (often used in plural).

Translations

Sehne

jännejäntevyysvoimavoimanlähde

tendon

snagatetiva

erőhajtóerőínizomerőmozgatóerő

tendine nervo

sinew

[ˈsɪnjuː] N

1. (= tendon) → tendón m (fig) (= strength) → nervio m, vigor m

2. sinews (= muscles) → músculos mpl

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sinew

[ˈsɪnjuː] n → tendon m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

sinew

→ Sehne f

sinews pl (fig) → Kräfte pl, → Stärke f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sinew

[ˈsɪnjuː] n (tendon) → tendine m sinews npl (muscles) → muscoli mpl (fig) (strength) → forza

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

sin·ew

1. n. tendón;

2. vigoroso, muscular.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

I noticed his hands, dirty, with long nails; they were merely bone and sinew, large and strong; but I had forgotten that they were so shapely.

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This fair little stranger is so small of bone and sinew, that his old name is not to the purpose." Here he paused long enough to fill a horn in the stream.

View in context

And by means of that mysterious indefinable bond which maintains throughout an army one and the same temper, known as "the spirit of the army," and which constitutes the sinew of war, Kutuzov's words, his order for a battle next day, immediately became known from one end of the army to the other.

View in context

He became quicker of movement than the other dogs, swifter of foot, craftier, deadlier, more lithe, more lean with ironlike muscle and sinew, more enduring, more cruel, more ferocious, and more intelligent.

View in context

Neither is money the sinews of war (as it is trivially said), where the sinews of men's arms, in base and effeminate people, are failing.

View in context

The entire member seems a dense webbed bed of welded sinews; but cut into it, and you find that three distinct strata compose it: --upper, middle, and lower.

View in context

It is allowed, that senates and great councils are often troubled with redundant, ebullient, and other peccant humours; with many diseases of the head, and more of the heart; with strong convulsions, with grievous contractions of the nerves and sinews in both hands, but especially the right; with spleen, flatus, vertigos, and deliriums; with scrofulous tumours, full of fetid purulent matter; with sour frothy ructations: with canine appetites, and crudeness of digestion, besides many others, needless to mention.

View in context

At last came she whom Tarzan sought, with lithe sinews rolling beneath shimmering hide; fat and glossy came Sabor, the lioness.

View in context

Mr Johnson will head to Berlin and Paris this week to seek a new Brexit agreement, and Dame Carolyn called on both him and leaders within the EU to "strain every sinew" to agree a deal.

EU no-deal 'will damage North for years to come'

Our Government should be straining every sinew to bring this five-year-old human catastrophe to a peaceful end.

End war in Yemen, PM; VOICE OF THE

Thread a needle with a 6- to 8-inch piece of sinew or thread.

BUTTONED DUCKS: DIY Antler Buttons: Rack up the style points by adorning your with a polished piece of deer antler

Using the artificial sinew, stitching needles, and a saddle stitch, sew each line of holes to form the individual tool pockets.

Handcrafted Deerskin Tool Roll: Turn a tanned hide into a roll-up pouch with pockets that will keep your preferred tools organized for service and storage