brawn Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun possessing muscular strength
    heftiness; sinew; brawniness; muscle; muscularity.

WordNet

Brawn noun
Etymology
OF. braon fleshy part, muscle, fr. HG. brto flesh, G. braten roast meat; akin to Icel. br flesh, food of beasts, AS. brde roast meat, brdan to roast, G. braten, and possibly to E. breed.
Definitions
  1. A muscle; flesh. Obs.
    Formed well of brawns and of bones. Chaucer.
  2. Full, strong muscles, esp. of the arm or leg, muscular strength; a protuberant muscular part of the body; sometimes, the arm.
    Brawn without brains is thine. Dryden.
    It was ordained that murderers should be brent on the brawn of the left hand. E. Hall.
    And in my vantbrace put this withered brawn. Shak.
  3. The flesh of a boar; also, the salted and prepared flesh of a boar.
    The best age for the boar is from two to five years, at which time it is best to geld him, or sell him for brawn. Mortimer.
  4. A boar. Obs. Beau. & Fl.

Webster 1913