sinew
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈsɪnjuː/
  • (GA) IPA: /ˈsɪnju/
Noun

sinew (plural sinews)

  1. (anatomy) A cord or tendon of the body.
  2. A cord or string#Noun|string, particularly (music) as of a musical instrument.
  3. (figuratively) Muscular power#Noun|power, muscle#Noun|muscle; nerve, nervous energy; vigor, vigorous strength.
  4. (figuratively, often, in the plural) That which gives strength or in which strength consists; a supporting#Adjective|supporting factor#Noun|factor or member; mainstay.
    • c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, “Measvre for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act III, scene i], page 72 ↗, column 2:
      [S]he loſt a noble and renowned brother, in his loue toward her, euer moſt kinde and naturall: with him the portion and ſinew of her fortune, her marriage dowry: with both, her combynate-husband, this well-ſeeming Angelo.
  5. (anatomy, obsolete) A nerve.
Translations Verb

sinew (sinews, present participle sinewing; past and past participle sinewed)

  1. (transitive) To knit#verb|knit together or make strong with, or as if with, sinews.
    • c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act II, scene vi], pages 157–158 ↗:
      And now to London with Triumphant march, / There to be crowned Englands Royall King: / From whence, ſhall Warwicke cut the Sea to France, / And aske the Ladie Bona for thy Queene: / So ſhalt thou ſinow both theſe Lands together, / And hauing France thy Friend, thou ſhalt not dread / The ſcattred Foe, that hopes to riſe againe: {{...}
    • 1766 March, [Oliver Goldsmith], “The Same Subject Continued”, in The Vicar of Wakefield: A Tale. Supposed to be Written by Himself, volume II, Salisbury, Wiltshire: Printed by B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], OCLC 938500648 ↗, page 123 ↗:
      [I]t were to be wiſhed that we tried the restrictive arts of government, and made law the protector, but not the tyrant of the people. […] [W]e ſhould then find that wretches, now ſtuck up for long tortures, left luxury ſhould feel a momentary pang, might, if properly treated, ſerve to ſinew the ſtate in times of danger; {{...}



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