nandhakumarms/qualc-wiktionary-en huggingface dataset:
Word: mention Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Inherited from Middle English mencioun, mention, from Old French mention, from Latin mentiōnem, accusative of mentiō (“a mention, calling to mind”). Pronunciation: /ˈmɛnʃən/, /ˈmɛnʃn̩/ 1. To make mention of; to speak of; to refer to; to name; to specify Labels: transitive Example: He happened to mention your name to me. Example: fine mantles of Irish frieze are mentioned in a list of goods exported from England to Pope Urban VI 2. To utter a word or expression in order to refer to the expression itself, as opposed to its usual referent. Example: I can illustrate this by mentioning the word lead. Now you have no way of knowing for sure which meaning I have in mind until I give it some context by using it in a sentence. Example: If the verbatimness view derives from the popular notion that DST repeats 'the actual words spoken', a second line of thought takes its cue from Quine's (1940: 23–26, 1960: 146–156) philosophical distinction between words which are “used” vs. words which are merely “mentioned”.
Word: merganser Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Late Latin merganser, from Latin mergus (“waterfowl, diver”), from mergō (“to dip, immerse”) + ānser (“goose”). Pronunciation: /məˈɡænsə/, /mɚˈɡænsɚ/ 1. Any of various diving ducks of the genera Mergus or Lophodytes, which feed on fish and have a sharply serrated bill.
Word: mesh Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English mesche, from Old English masc (“net”) (perhaps influenced in form by related Old English mæscre (“mesh, spot”)), from the related Proto-Germanic *maskwǭ and *maskrǭ respectively, from Proto-Indo-European *mezg- (“to knit, twist, plait”). Akin to Old High German māsca (“mesh”), Old Saxon maska (“net”), Old Norse mǫskvi, mǫskun (“mesh”). Pronunciation: /mɛʃ/ 1. A structure made of connected strands of metal, fiber, or other flexible/ductile material, with evenly spaced openings between them. Example: a golden mesh to entrap the hearts of men 2. The opening or space enclosed by the threads of a net between knot and knot, or the threads enclosing such a space. 3. The engagement of the teeth of wheels, or of a wheel and rack. 4. A measure of fineness (particle size) of ground material. A powder that passes through a sieve having 300 openings per linear inch but does not pass 400 openings per linear inch is said to be -300 +400 mesh. 5. A polygon mesh. 6. In mesh analysis: a loop in an electric circuit (to which Kirchhoff's voltage law can be applied). 7. A network topology with each device connected to multiple other devices in lieu of a central switch. Redundancy on a mesh network prevents single points of failure.
Word: mesh Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English mesche, from Old English masc (“net”) (perhaps influenced in form by related Old English mæscre (“mesh, spot”)), from the related Proto-Germanic *maskwǭ and *maskrǭ respectively, from Proto-Indo-European *mezg- (“to knit, twist, plait”). Akin to Old High German māsca (“mesh”), Old Saxon maska (“net”), Old Norse mǫskvi, mǫskun (“mesh”). Pronunciation: /mɛʃ/ 1. To connect together by interlocking, as gears do. Labels: ambitransitive 2. To fit in; to come together harmoniously. Labels: broadly, figuratively, intransitive Example: The music meshed well with the visuals in that film. Example: The headliners — Weezer and Dinosaur Jr. — were alt rock acts that had turned the sound of disconnection into an audience almost two decades ago. Exactly how that was going to mesh with blue skies and umbrella drinks wasn’t clear to me. 3. To catch in a mesh. Labels: transitive Example: I know how loue doth rage vpon a yelding minde: How smal a net may take and meash a hart of gentle kinde
Word: mess Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Perhaps a corruption of Middle English mesh (“mash”), compare muss, or derived from Etymology 2 "mixed foods, as for animals". Compare also Old English mes (“dung, excrement”). Pronunciation: /mɛs/ 1. a thing or group of things in a disagreeable, disorganised, or dirty state; hence a bad situation Labels: countable, uncountable Example: No, look, I know that the place looks like a bit of a mess but it's actually a very delicate ecosystem. Everything is connected. It's like the rainforest. You change one thing, even the tiniest bit, and the whooole rainforest dies. You don't want the rainforest to die, do ya? Example: He made a mess of it. 2. a large quantity or number Labels: colloquial, countable, uncountable Example: Messerschmidts! A whole mess of Messerschmidts! Example: My boss dumped a whole mess of projects on my desk today. 3. excrement. Labels: countable, euphemistic, uncountable Example: There was dog mess all along the street. Example: Did you hear that? It scared the mess out of me. 4. a person in a state of (especially emotional) turmoil or disarray; an emotional wreck Labels: countable, figuratively, uncountable Example: Between the pain and the depression, I'm a mess. Example: He's been a mess and a half ever since you excommunicated him.
Word: mess Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Perhaps a corruption of Middle English mesh (“mash”), compare muss, or derived from Etymology 2 "mixed foods, as for animals". Compare also Old English mes (“dung, excrement”). Pronunciation: /mɛs/ 1. To make untidy or dirty. Labels: often, transitive Example: It seems like all you do is cry, eat, and mess your diapers! 2. To make untidy or dirty. Labels: often, transitive 3. To throw into disorder or to ruin. Labels: often, transitive Example: Charles Dickens, quoted in: 1875, John Forster, The Life of Charles Dickens Yet I was not sorry that the creature found the loophole for escape. The officers had taken him illegally without any warrant; and really they messed it all through, quite facetiously. Example: But it wasn't right to be messing another man's sleep with tidal waves that didn't belong to the other man. 4. To interfere. Labels: intransitive Example: This doesn't concern you. Don't mess.
Word: mess Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English mes, partly from Old English mēse, mēose (“table”), a vernacular loan from Latin/Late Latin mē(n)sa (“table; meal”); and partly from Old French mes, Late Latin missum, from mittō (“to put, place (e.g. on the table)”). See mission, and compare Mass (“religious service”). Pronunciation: /mɛs/ 1. Mass; a church service. Labels: obsolete 2. A quantity of food set on a table at one time; provision of food for a person or party for one meal; also, the food given to an animal at one time. Labels: archaic Example: c. 1555, Hugh Latimer, letter to one in prison for the profession of the Gospel a mess of pottage Example: At their savoury dinner set / Of herbs and other country messes. 3. A number of persons who eat together, and for whom food is prepared in common, especially military personnel who eat at the same table. Labels: collective Example: the wardroom mess Example: But that our Feaſts / In euery Meſſe, haue folly; and the Feeders / Digeſt with a Cuſtome, 4. A building or room in which mess is eaten. Example: The police mess had formerly been a maternity home for the wives of the Sultans of the state. Faded and tatty, peeling, floorboards eaten and unpolished, its philoprogenitive glory was a memory only. 5. a type of restaurant characterized by homely-style cooking and food. Labels: India 6. A set of four (from the old practice of dividing companies into sets of four at dinner). 7. The milk given by a cow at one milking. Labels: US 8. A group of iguanas. Labels: collective 9. A dessert of fruit and cream, similar to a fool. Example: Eton is renowned for its "messes," and "strawberry mess" is Empress of them all, with raspberry mess as a very good second. It does not at all convey the joys of a "mess" to say that it consists of iced fruit and cream, and somewhat resembles a "fool." It is a thing apart, and should be approached with bated breath and unimpaired capacity. Example: "I'll stand you both strawberry mess." It was perfectly impossible for David not to feel elated at sitting down to strawberry-mess with two members of the eleven, in the full light of day, and in sight of the school generally […]
Word: mess Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English mes, partly from Old English mēse, mēose (“table”), a vernacular loan from Latin/Late Latin mē(n)sa (“table; meal”); and partly from Old French mes, Late Latin missum, from mittō (“to put, place (e.g. on the table)”). See mission, and compare Mass (“religious service”). Pronunciation: /mɛs/ 1. To take meals with a mess. Labels: intransitive 2. To belong to a mess. Labels: intransitive 3. To eat (with others). Labels: intransitive Example: Resolved 18. That no Guide or Interpreter whether at the Factory Depot or Inland be permitted to mess with Commissioned Gentlemen or Clerks in charge of Posts; but while at the Depot they will be allowed per Week 4 days ordinary rations... Example: I mess with the wardroom officers. 4. To supply with a mess. Labels: transitive
Word: metabolic Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Borrowed from Ancient Greek μεταβολικός (metabolikós), from μεταβολή (metabolḗ, “change”) + -ικός (-ikós), thus by surface analysis, metabola + -ic. Compare metabolism. Pronunciation: /mɛtəˈbɒlɪk/ 1. Of or pertaining to metabolism. Labels: not-comparable Example: metabolic activity Example: metabolic force 2. Of or pertaining to metamorphosis. Labels: not-comparable, obsolete 3. Pertaining to or involving change. Labels: not-comparable, obsolete, rare
Word: metabolic Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from Ancient Greek μεταβολικός (metabolikós), from μεταβολή (metabolḗ, “change”) + -ικός (-ikós), thus by surface analysis, metabola + -ic. Compare metabolism. Pronunciation: /mɛtəˈbɒlɪk/ 1. A nutritional supplement. Labels: informal
Word: metabolism Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *me Proto-Indo-European *meth₂? Ancient Greek μετᾰ́ (metắ) Ancient Greek μετα- (meta-) Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-der. Proto-Hellenic *gʷəlnō Ancient Greek βάλλω (bállō) Ancient Greek μεταβάλλω (metabállō) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Ancient Greek -ᾱ (-ā) Ancient Greek -η (-ē) Ancient Greek μετᾰβολή (metăbolḗ) Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English metabolism From Ancient Greek μεταβολή (metabolḗ, “change”) + -ism, from μεταβάλλω (metabállō, “to change, to alter”) + -η (-ē, action noun suffix). Pronunciation: /mɪˈtab.ə.lɪz.əm/, [mɪˈtab.ə.lɪz.m̩], /məˈtæb.əˌlɪz.əm/, [məˈtæb.əˌlɪz.m̩], /mɪˈtæb.ə.lɪz.əm/ 1. The chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The metabolisms of aerobic bacteria require oxygen 2. The rate at which these processes occur for a given organism Labels: broadly, countable, uncountable Example: Small animals have a much higher metabolism than large animals because they lose more body heat 3. The processes that maintain any dynamic system. Labels: broadly, countable, figuratively, uncountable Example: The results of this generalized speedup of the corporate metabolism are multiple: shorter product life cycles, more leasing and renting, more frequent buying and selling, more ephemeral consumption patterns, […]
Word: mid- Part of Speech: prefix Etymology: See mid. 1. Denoting the middle part. Labels: morpheme Example: He's in his mid-thirties — meaning he is roughly around the age of 33-37, as opposed to one's early thirties (aged roughly 30–33) and one's late thirties (aged roughly around 37-39). Example: He was born in the mid-1930s. 2. Occupying a middle position. Labels: morpheme Example: a mid-shoulder stretch 3. Intermediate Labels: morpheme Example: mid-key, midclass, midgut, midbrow 4. Amid. Labels: morpheme 5. During, in the middle of doing something. Labels: morpheme Example: He was hit by a ball mid-jump.
Word: midweek Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From mid- + week. Compare Saterland Frisian Midwiek (“Wednesday”, literally “midweek”), German Low German Middeweek (“Wednesday”, literally “midweek”), German Mittwoch (“Wednesday”, literally “midweek”). 1. The middle of the week. Example: In midweek, however, the stretch is reasonably quiet and I can conceal myself behind a clump of rushes and cast a big piece of luncheon meat on a link-leger rig right in the deep hole and let the current roll it under the roof. Example: Carol, who is responsible for two coaches, says the sleeping accommodation is virtually full - surprising for midweek in mid-April. The Train Manager confirms that the train is well-loaded overall, noting that people view the train as a tourist attraction in its own right. 2. Midweek worship service, held by many congregations and in addition to a Sunday morning service. Labels: Jehovah's-Witnesses, informal Example: This Wednesday is churchwide midweek; men's is the next one.
Word: midweek Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From mid- + week. Compare Saterland Frisian Midwiek (“Wednesday”, literally “midweek”), German Low German Middeweek (“Wednesday”, literally “midweek”), German Mittwoch (“Wednesday”, literally “midweek”). 1. That happens in the middle of the week. Labels: not-comparable Example: Cheap mid-week return tickets were reintroduced by British Railways on May 7, to encourage holiday travel during the week rather than at weekends. Example: I did not really wonder, after sampling the "Settebello's" standards of comfort and service, that even on a midweek day in autumn there was not a seat to spare, despite the cost.
Word: midweek Part of Speech: adv Etymology: From mid- + week. Compare Saterland Frisian Midwiek (“Wednesday”, literally “midweek”), German Low German Middeweek (“Wednesday”, literally “midweek”), German Mittwoch (“Wednesday”, literally “midweek”). 1. In the middle of the week. Labels: not-comparable Example: Leicester could only manage a goalless draw midweek with Sutton Coldfield and will be keen to return to winning form.
Word: mignonette Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From French mignonnette, from mignon (“dainty”) + -ette (diminutive suffix). Pronunciation: /ˌmɪnjəˈnɛt/ 1. A plant, Reseda odorata, having greyish-green flowers with orange-coloured stamens, and exhaling a delicious fragrance. In Africa it is a low shrub, but further north it is usually an annual herb. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: After amusing herself for a brief time with picking to pieces some mignonette which filled a box on the window-sill, Marie threw the flowers from her, and exclaimed,—"And here we are seated together, as we used to talk away half the night in Italy. Good Heavens! how we are altered!" Example: These rooms were on a level with the apartments of our friends Bows and Costigan next door at No. 4; and by reaching over the communicating leads, Grady could command the mignonette-box which bloomed in Bows’s window. 2. A mignonette tree (Lawsonia inermis), source of the dye henna. Labels: countable, uncountable 3. A mignonette vine. Labels: countable, uncountable 4. A greyish-green colour, like that of the flowers of the plant. Labels: countable, uncountable 5. Short for mignonette sauce Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, uncountable
Word: mignonette Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From French mignonnette, from mignon (“dainty”) + -ette (diminutive suffix). Pronunciation: /ˌmɪnjəˈnɛt/ 1. Of a greyish-green colour, like that of the flowers of the plant. Example: She wore a dishabille of mignonette-green silk and bead-diapered head-dress that added several inches to her height […].
Word: migrant Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from French migrant. Pronunciation: /ˈmaɪɡɹənt/ 1. A migratory animal, in particular a migratory bird. Example: Gilbert White writes, "I have consulted a sportsman who tells me that […] often there are amongst them little parties of small blue doves which he calls rockiers. The food of these numberless migrants was beechmast and some acorns." 2. Traveller or worker who moves from one region or country to another. 3. A person who leaves one place in order to permanently settle in another. Labels: informal Example: These first English migrants to Jamestown endured terrible disease and arrived during a period of drought and colder-than-normal winters. The migrants to Roanoke on the outer banks of Carolina, where the English had gone in the 1580s, disappeared. And a brief effort to settle the coast of Maine in 1607 and 1608 failed because of an unusually bitter winter. Example: “But once you lose everything— your home, your school, your clinic, your road, your church—then it’s an impossible situation. You become an environmental migrant because you have to find those facilities in some other place.” 4. Any of various pierid butterflies of the genus Catopsilia. Also called an emigrant.
Word: migrant Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Borrowed from French migrant. Pronunciation: /ˈmaɪɡɹənt/ 1. Migratory.
Word: mime Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Possibly from Middle English *mime, from Old English mīma (“a buffoon, jester, mime”), from Latin mimus, from Ancient Greek μῖμος (mîmos, “imitator, actor”), but more likely re-borrowed in modern times from French mime (“mimic actor”), from the same source. Pronunciation: /maɪm/, /miːm/ 1. A form of acting without words; pantomime. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: [Silence] demands returning to the self, to innocence and a portrayal of situations as if all the particulars were completely unknown to the viewer. There are no props but the muscular versatility of the human form. Mime is the one thing that truly proves we can be all things. 2. A pantomime actor. Labels: countable, uncountable 3. A classical theatrical entertainment in the form of farce. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The mimes were packed with lascivious gestures and movements, and usually presented erotic scenes, on occasion farcically treated. 4. A performer of such a farce. Labels: countable, uncountable 5. A person who mimics others in a comical manner. Labels: countable, uncountable 6. Any of various papilionid butterflies of the genus Chilasa or Papilio, that mimic other species in appearance. Labels: countable, uncountable 7. A unit of imitation in the theory of symbiosism. Labels: countable, uncountable
Word: mime Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Possibly from Middle English *mime, from Old English mīma (“a buffoon, jester, mime”), from Latin mimus, from Ancient Greek μῖμος (mîmos, “imitator, actor”), but more likely re-borrowed in modern times from French mime (“mimic actor”), from the same source. Pronunciation: /maɪm/, /miːm/ 1. To mimic. 2. To act without words. Labels: intransitive 3. To represent an action or object through gesture, without the use of sound. Example: In this game, you're given a word, which you have to mime to the others in the group.
Word: mindful Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Middle English myndeful, myndefull, from Old English ġemyndful (“of good memory”), equivalent to mind + -ful. Pronunciation: /ˈmaɪnd.fl̩/ 1. aware (of something); attentive, heedful. Example: Alex McLeish, perhaps mindful of the flak he has been taking from sections of the Villa support for a perceived negative style of play, handed starts to wingers Charles N'Zogbia and Albrighton. 2. Of or pertaining to mindfulness; sustaining meta-attention of the contents of one's own mind in the present moment. Example: I think being mindful may help you to appreciate life more. 3. Inclined (to do something). Labels: obsolete Example: These noble warriors, mindefull to pursew / The last daies purpose of their vowed fight, / Them selves thereto preparde in order dew […].
Word: mindful Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From mind + -ful. Pronunciation: /ˈmaɪnd.fl̩/ 1. As much as can be held in one's mind at a time. Example: A work of art may exceed a 'mindful' – whatever it is that can be accommodated within a mind at a given time – and may have to be regarded as a series of mindfuls. Example: So, whereas mouthfuls and servings are the units of fullness, mindfuls and savorings are the units of mind-fullness.
Word: minuet Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From French menuet, from menu (“small”) + -et (“diminutive”), from Latin minutus (“very small”). 1. A slow graceful dance consisting of a coupé, a high step, and a balance. 2. A tune or air to regulate the movements of the minuet dance: it has the dance form, and is commonly in 3/4, sometimes 3/8, measure. 3. A complete short musical composition inspired by and conforming to many formal characteristics of the traditional musical accompaniment to the dance of same name. 4. A movement which is part of a longer musical composition such as a suite, sonata, or symphony which is inspired by and conforming to formal characteristics of the dance of same name.
Word: minuet Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From French menuet, from menu (“small”) + -et (“diminutive”), from Latin minutus (“very small”). 1. To dance a minuet. Example: After he had raved his time upon the stage, the ladies and knights again minueted for an hour, and again gave place. Example: Within the same circle with the pigeons, were beautiful albatrosses, poising and minueting with them in the most pleasing fellowship.
Word: mirth Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English merth, myrthe, murhthe, from Old English myrġþ (“mirth, joy”), from Proto-West Germanic *murgiþu (“briefness, brevity”); equivalent to merry + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Middle Dutch merchte (“pleasure, joy, delight”). Pronunciation: /mɜɹθ/, [mɝθ], /mɜːθ/ 1. The emotion usually following humor and accompanied by laughter. Labels: uncountable, usually Example: But sorrow that is couch'd in seeming gladness Is like that mirth fate turns to sudden sadness. Example: To this speech Bingley made no answer; but his sisters gave it their hearty assent, and indulged their mirth for some time at the expense of their dear friend's vulgar relations. 2. That which causes merriment. Labels: uncountable, usually Example: Phantasmal mirth, folded away: muskperfumed.
Word: miserly Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From miser + -ly, attested from the 1540s. Pronunciation: /ˈmaɪ.zə(ɹ).li/, /ˈmaɪ.zəɹli/ 1. Like a miser, very or objectionably cautious with money. Example: miserly habits Example: miserly offer
Word: misery Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English miserie, from Old French miserie (modern: misère), from Latin miseria, from miser, equivalent to miser + -y. Doublet of misère and mizeria. Pronunciation: /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹɪ/, /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹi/ 1. Great unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Ever since his wife left him you can see the misery on his face. Example: For miſerie doth braueſt mindes abate, / And make them ſeeke for that they wont to ſcorne, / Of fortune and of hope at once forlorne. 2. A bodily ache or pain. Labels: UK, US, countable, dialectal, uncountable Example: [...] and I had a misery in my left breast and shoulder. I was hurt, but knew not how or how much. 3. Cause of misery; calamity; misfortune. Labels: countable, uncountable 4. poverty. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The Widdow that hath but a pan of braſſe, […] Muſt pay her Landlord many a groat, Or twil be puld out of her throat: […] The rich haue all, the poore liue in miſerie: […] 5. greed; avarice. Labels: archaic, countable, uncountable
Word: mismatch Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From mis- + match (verb sense). Pronunciation: /ˌmɪsˈmæt͡ʃ/ 1. To match unsuitably; to fail to match
Word: mismatch Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From mis- + match (noun sense). Pronunciation: /ˈmɪs.mæt͡ʃ/ 1. Something that does not match; something dissimilar, inappropriate or unsuitable. Example: After all the trepidation born of Holland's toils home and away against these opponents in qualification for Euro 2012, and the pockmarked nature of the pitch, this was exposed as a mismatch from the opening exchanges.
Word: misshapen Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Inherited from Middle English mysshapen, misse shapen, mysshape, mysshap; equivalent to mis- + shapen. Pronunciation: /mɪsˈʃeɪ.pən/, [mɪʃˈʃeɪ.pən] 1. Having a bad, ugly or awkward shape; deformed; malformed; ill-shapen. 2. Morally or intellectually warped. Labels: broadly, figuratively
Word: misshapen Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English (attested as mysshapend). Probably partly from the adjective and partly from mis- + shapen (verb), though shapen is attested later. Pronunciation: /mɪsˈʃeɪ.pən/, [mɪʃˈʃeɪ.pən] 1. Synonym of misshape. Labels: transitive Example: If the feet are well shaped but have some weakness, they will ultimately give way under the strain of use and lose their natural shape, often becoming distorted. This, of coarse, results in the distortion of the shoe. Few persons realize to what extent shoes are misshapened by defective feet. Example: Skin the fish before cooking since the skin shrinks as it cooks and misshapens the fillets.
Word: mite Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English mite, from Old English mīte (“mite, tiny insect”), from Proto-West Germanic *mītā, from Proto-Germanic *mītǭ (“biting insect”, literally “cutter”), from *maitaną (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“small”) or *meh₂y- (“to cut”). Akin to Old High German mīza (“mite”), Middle Dutch mīte (“moth, mite”), Dutch mijt (“moth, mite”), Danish mide (“mite”). Pronunciation: /maɪt/ 1. Any of many minute arachnids which, along with the ticks, comprise subclass Acari (syn. Acarina). 2. A small coin formerly circulated in England, rated at about a third of a farthing. Example: One mite wrung from the lab'rer's hands Shall buy and sell the miser's lands; 3. A lepton, a small coin used in Judea in the time of Christ. 4. A small weight; one twentieth of a grain. 5. Anything very small; a minute object; a very little quantity or particle. Labels: adverbial, sometimes Example: a mite Example: It takes a thousand men to invent a telegraph, or a steam engine, or a phonograph, or a photograph, or a telephone or any other important thing — and the last man gets the credit and we forget the others. He added his little mite — that is all he did. 6. A small or naughty person, or one people take pity on; rascal. Labels: colloquial, often Example: Today's children at Christmas-time take a cast-off toy to the Toy Service held in many churches, and it is a pretty sight to watch those tiny mites clutching their toys and parting from them.j Example: “Tom told me that, but twasn't your fault, the little mite just couldn't wait to be born that's all.” A small smile played on Leah's lips.
Word: mite Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English mite, from Old English mīte (“mite, tiny insect”), from Proto-West Germanic *mītā, from Proto-Germanic *mītǭ (“biting insect”, literally “cutter”), from *maitaną (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“small”) or *meh₂y- (“to cut”). Akin to Old High German mīza (“mite”), Middle Dutch mīte (“moth, mite”), Dutch mijt (“moth, mite”), Danish mide (“mite”). Pronunciation: /maɪt/ 1. Eye dialect spelling of might. Labels: alt-of, pronunciation-spelling
Word: molly Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Molly, the personal name, a pet form of Mary. In some cases it is possibly derived from mollitia (“softness, weakness”). Drug sense probably influenced by the initial of MDMA. Pronunciation: /ˈmɒli/, /ˈmɑli/ 1. A woman or girl, especially of low status or prostitute. Labels: Ireland, countable, uncountable 2. a male homosexual, especially an effeminate one. Labels: countable, slang, uncountable 3. Pure MDMA powder. Labels: slang, uncountable Example: So la-da-di-da-di, we like to party / Dancing with Molly / Doing whatever we want Example: Well…you want to do these together then? Pure Molly… 4. A mollemoke. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: So the petrels called to the mollys: but they were so busy and greedy, gobbling and pecking and spluttering and fighting over the blubber, that they did not take the least notice. 5. A female cat, a she-cat (usually spayed) Labels: countable, uncountable 6. A bird, the wagtail. Labels: countable, uncountable 7. A molly bolt. Labels: countable, uncountable
Word: molly Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Molly, the personal name, a pet form of Mary. In some cases it is possibly derived from mollitia (“softness, weakness”). Drug sense probably influenced by the initial of MDMA. Pronunciation: /ˈmɒli/, /ˈmɑli/ 1. To engage in (male) homosexual activity with. Example: I said, "I never mollied you." My Lord, I never laid Hands upon him, nor touch'd him. Example: On one occasion, Partridge was nearly mobbed in a molly-house when some men called him a 'treacherous, blowing-up, mollying bitch, and swore they'd massacre anybody that should betray them.'
Word: molly Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Mollienesia, an invalid taxonomic name for the genus, influenced by the personal name Molly. Pronunciation: /ˈmɒli/, /ˈmɑli/ 1. A fish of the genus Poecilia, excluding Endler's livebearers and guppies.
Word: molly Part of Speech: noun Pronunciation: /ˈmɒli/, /ˈmɑli/ 1. Alternative spelling of mali (“a member of a caste in South Asia whose traditional occupation is gardening; hence, any South Asian gardener”). Labels: India, South-Asia, alt-of, alternative
Word: molly Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Clipping of Molotov. Pronunciation: /ˈmɒli/, /ˈmɑli/ 1. A Molotov cocktail. Labels: slang Example: Brimstone, Viper, and Phoenix's mollies were adjusted during a closed beta patch, changing the damage tick speed so players couldn't avoid damage by bunny hopping. Killjoy's Nanoswarm will likely follow suit.
Word: moquette Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from French moquette. Pronunciation: /mɒˈkɛt/, /mə(ʊ)ˈkɛt/ 1. A kind of fabric with a thick pile used for carpeting or to upholster seating, etc. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The interior colour scheme departs from the conventional L.T. red and green upholstery and matching paintwork, which has been replaced by a maroon and grey moquette with dove grey paint below the waist rail. Example: A winter of walking about in the rain down snowlit streets; overheated hotel-rooms with the smell of furry moquette […] 2. An article covered in such material. Labels: countable, uncountable
Word: morass Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Dutch moeras (“marsh, swamp”), an alteration (with influence from Dutch moer (“moor”)) of a direct descendant of Middle Dutch marasch (“marsh”). The Middle Dutch word is a borrowing from Old French mareis, from Proto-West Germanic *marisk. Doublet of marish and marsh, and linked in part to moor. Compare quagmire. Pronunciation: /məˈɹæs/, /moˈɹæs/ 1. A tract of soft, wet ground; a marsh; a fen. Example: Seven miles to the north of Venice, the banks of sand, which near the city rise little above low-water mark, attain by degrees a higher level, and knit themselves at last into fields of salt morass, raised here and there into shapeless mounds, and intercepted by narrow creeks of sea. 2. Anything that entraps or makes progress difficult. Labels: figuratively Example: I wrote to Sacramento about that historical marker, and they've been kicking it around their bureaucratic morass for months.
Word: moreover Part of Speech: adv Etymology: Inherited from Middle English moreover, moreovere, morover, mooreover, more-overe, mare over, equivalent to more + over. Pronunciation: /mɔːˈɹəʊ.və/, /moɹˈoʊ.vɚ/, /moːˈɹəʉ.və/, /moːˈɹɐʉ.və/ 1. In addition to what has been said. Labels: conjunctive, not-comparable Example: For three years there had been pestilence, and in the last of the three a famine; moreover, there was imminence of war. Example: The characteristics ‘terrestrial’ and ‘two-footed’ are predicated of the species ‘man’, but not present in it. For they are not in man. Moreover, the definition of the differentia may be predicated of that of which the differentia itself is predicated.
Word: mortgagee Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From mortgage + -ee. 1. One who provides a loan secured upon the borrowers' property: the lender in a mortgage agreement.
Word: mother-of-pearl Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Calque of Latin māter perlārum, with the first element perhaps connected in popular imagination with obsolete mother (“dregs”). Possibly referring to the fact that the nacre-lined shells are the belly (“mother”) in which pearls are produced. Pronunciation: /ˌmʌðəɹ əv ˈpɜː(ɹ)l/ 1. The hard pearly inner layer of certain mollusk shells; nacre. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Ah, those Indian warehouses made the morning pass in a charming manner! many a soft confession was whispered over a huge china jar; many a heart has succumbed to a suite of mother-of-pearl card-box and counters; and as to the shawls, why, the whole feminine world has long ago acknowledged them to be irresistible. 2. A butterfly of the genus Salamis. Labels: countable, uncountable 3. A butterfly of the species Patania ruralis. Labels: countable, uncountable
Word: mother-of-pearl Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Calque of Latin māter perlārum, with the first element perhaps connected in popular imagination with obsolete mother (“dregs”). Possibly referring to the fact that the nacre-lined shells are the belly (“mother”) in which pearls are produced. Pronunciation: /ˌmʌðəɹ əv ˈpɜː(ɹ)l/ 1. Made from or looking like mother-of-pearl; iridescent or pearly. Labels: not-comparable
Word: motive Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Anglo-Norman motifder. Middle French motifder. Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh₁éyetider. Proto-Italic *moweō Latin moveō Latin mōtus Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Late Latin mōtīvumder. Middle English motif English motive From Middle English motif, from Anglo-Norman motif, Middle French motif, and their source, Late Latin motivum (“motive, moving cause”), neuter of motivus. Pronunciation: /ˈməʊtɪv/, /ˈmoʊtɪv/ 1. An idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting. Labels: obsolete Example: there's something in a woman beyond all human delight; a magnetic virtue, a charming quality, an occult and powerful motive. 2. An incentive to act in a particular way; a reason or emotion that makes one want to do something; anything that prompts a choice of action. Example: Many of them at first seemed kind to him, but it turned out their motives were not entirely altruistic. Example: “Your job here is to find the good things in your colleagues—the things their state saw—and not focus on the bad.” I said I understand. “And, Joe, never attack another man’s motive, because you don’t know his motive.” 3. A limb or other bodily organ that can move. Labels: obsolete, rare Example: every joint and motive of her body 4. Something which causes someone to want to commit a crime; a reason for criminal behaviour. Example: What would his motive be for burning down the cottage? Example: No-one could understand why she had hidden the shovel; her motives were obscure at best. 5. Alternative form of motif. Labels: alt-of, alternative Example: If you listen carefully, you can hear the flutes mimicking the cello motive. 6. A party, gathering, or get-together. Labels: UK 7. One's plans for the day or night. Labels: UK Example: What's the motive for tonight, lads?
Word: motive Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Etymology tree Anglo-Norman motifder. Middle French motifder. Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh₁éyetider. Proto-Italic *moweō Latin moveō Latin mōtus Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Late Latin mōtīvumder. Middle English motif English motive From Middle English motif, from Anglo-Norman motif, Middle French motif, and their source, Late Latin motivum (“motive, moving cause”), neuter of motivus. Pronunciation: /ˈməʊtɪv/, /ˈmoʊtɪv/ 1. To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move. Labels: transitive
Word: motive Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Etymology tree Anglo-Norman motifder. Middle French motifder. Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh₁éyetider. Proto-Italic *moweō Latin moveō Latin mōtus Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Late Latin mōtīvumder. Middle English motif English motive From Middle English motif, from Anglo-Norman motif, Middle French motif, and their source, Late Latin motivum (“motive, moving cause”), neuter of motivus. Pronunciation: /ˈməʊtɪv/, /ˈmoʊtɪv/ 1. Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move Labels: not-comparable Example: a motive argument Example: motive power 2. Relating to motion and/or to its cause Labels: not-comparable Example: Debussy's melody is fractional, fragmentary. But at the core all his music is melodic and melody is its main motive force.
Word: mound Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From earlier meaning "hedge, fence", from Middle English mound, mund (“protection, boundary, raised earthen rampart”), from Old English mund (“hand, hand of protection, protector, guardianship”), from Proto-West Germanic *mundu, from Proto-Germanic *mundō (“hand”), *munduz (“protection, patron”), from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂-nt-éh₂ (“the beckoning one”), from *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon”). Cognate with Old Frisian mund (“guardianship”), Middle Dutch mond (“protection”), Old High German munt (“hand, protection”) German Mündel (“ward”), Vormund (“guardian”)), Icelandic and Old Norse mund (“hand”), and possibly Latin manus (“hand”), Ancient Greek μάρη (márē, “hand”). Not related to mount. Pronunciation: /maʊnd/ 1. An artificial hill or elevation of earth; a raised bank; an embankment thrown up for defense 2. A natural elevation appearing as if thrown up artificially; a regular and isolated hill, hillock, or knoll. 3. Elevated area of dirt upon which the pitcher stands to pitch. Example: The pitcher was waiting at the mound. 4. A ball or globe forming part of the regalia of an emperor or other sovereign. It is encircled with bands, enriched with precious stones, and surmounted with a cross. 5. The mons veneris. Labels: US, slang, vulgar 6. A hand. Labels: figuratively, obsolete 7. A protection; restraint; curb. Labels: obsolete 8. A helmet. Labels: obsolete 9. Might; size. Labels: obsolete 10. A large amount of something. Example: a mound of mashed potato
Word: mound Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From earlier meaning "hedge, fence", from Middle English mound, mund (“protection, boundary, raised earthen rampart”), from Old English mund (“hand, hand of protection, protector, guardianship”), from Proto-West Germanic *mundu, from Proto-Germanic *mundō (“hand”), *munduz (“protection, patron”), from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂-nt-éh₂ (“the beckoning one”), from *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon”). Cognate with Old Frisian mund (“guardianship”), Middle Dutch mond (“protection”), Old High German munt (“hand, protection”) German Mündel (“ward”), Vormund (“guardian”)), Icelandic and Old Norse mund (“hand”), and possibly Latin manus (“hand”), Ancient Greek μάρη (márē, “hand”). Not related to mount. Pronunciation: /maʊnd/ 1. To fortify with a mound; add a barrier, rampart, etc. to. Labels: transitive 2. To force or pile into a mound or mounds. Labels: transitive Example: He mounded up his mashed potatoes so they left more space on the plate for the meat. 3. To form a mound. Labels: intransitive Example: When a wave mounds on the outside and takes its shape, a surfer quickly paddles to the peak, positions himself in its evolving momentum, swings his board around, aligns with the peak, and thrusts himself into its cascading shape.
Word: multifarious Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Latin multifārius. Pronunciation: /ˌmʌltɪˈfɛəɹi.əs/ 1. Having great diversity or variety; of various kinds; made up of many differing parts. Example: Nothing could well resemble less a typical English street than […] the multifarious awnings, banners, and streamers, the extraordinary number of omnibuses, horsecars, and other democratic vehicles, […] Example: Now, it is our regretful task to record his death on November 19 after a brief illness, and to include in a short article on page 29 some notes on his multifarious activities. 2. In which a party or a cause of action has been improperly or wrongfully joined together in the same suit, as in a misjoinder, perhaps as a result of a joinder of unrelated, distinct, independent parties or matters.
Word: munificent Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Back-formation from munificence, from Latin mūnificentia. Pronunciation: /mjuˈnɪfɪsn̩t/ 1. Very liberal in giving or bestowing. Example: Munificent as he was in his own disposition in the conferring of favours, his acceptance, under the circumstances we have described, of the fortune bestowed by Robert, he found upon reasoning with himself to be perfectly consistent with the most scrupulous principles of uprightness and probity:[…] Example: Tellson's Bank […] was a munificent house, and extended great liberality to old customers who had fallen from their high estate. 2. Very generous; lavish. Labels: usually Example: On the hill, where kites used to be flown, stood the fine college which Mr Laurence's munificent legacy had built. Example: It was all very well for this casual youth to make her a present of a half million acres of land in this debonair way, but she could not persuade herself to accept so munificent a gift.
Word: muster Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English musteren, borrowed from Anglo-Norman mostrer, Middle French monstrer, moustrer (whence the noun monstre, which gave the English noun), from Latin mōnstrō (“to show”), from moneō (“to admonish”). Cognate with French montrer (“to show”), Italian mostrare (“to show”), Spanish mostrar (“to show”). See also monster. Pronunciation: /ˈmʌstə/, /ˈmʌstɚ/, /ˈmɐstə/, /ˈmʊstə/ 1. A gathering. Example: She seems to hear the Repetition of his Mens Names with Admiration; and waits only to answer him with as false a Muster of Lovers. Example: Of the temporal grandees of the realm, and of their wives and daughters, the muster was great and splendid. 2. A gathering. Example: Come, let vs take a muster speedily: / Doomesday is neere; dye all, dye merrily. Example: And after long being there, I 'light, and walked to the place where the King, Duke &c., did stand to see the horse and foot march by and discharge their guns, to show a French Marquisse (for whom this muster was caused) the goodness of our firemen […] 3. A gathering. Example: Ye publish the musters of your own bands, and proclaim them to amount of thousands. 4. A gathering. Labels: Australia, New-Zealand Example: McGuire took the two of them out to Kidman's Bore on the Sylvester River where about two dozen stockmen from different stations had gathered to tend the muster along the edge of the Simpson Desert. 5. Showing. Labels: obsolete Example: And this is the more ſurprizing, as he [the Indian tailor] never meaſures you; he only aſks "maſter for muſter," as he terms it, that is, for a pattern 6. Showing. Labels: obsolete Example: The beasts they saw here were hogs and little dogs, and they found some hens; here also they found a muster of cloves, ginger, and cinnamon; though the cinnamon was not of the best: […] Example: A letter from Mr. Downie, dated 14th of January 1807, acknowledging the receipt of one from the plaintiff, transmitting musters of silk, and authorizing the plaintiff, on certain conditions, to proceed in his speculation […] 7. Showing. Labels: obsolete Example: Thus all things being condignely ordered, will an ill favoured impatiencie he waited, until the next morning he might make a muster of him selfe in the Iland […] Example: And when you find your women's favour fail, / 'Tis ten to one you'll know yourself, and seek me, / Upon a better muster of your manners. 8. Showing.
Word: muster Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English musteren, borrowed from Anglo-Norman mostrer, Middle French monstrer, moustrer (whence the noun monstre, which gave the English noun), from Latin mōnstrō (“to show”), from moneō (“to admonish”). Cognate with French montrer (“to show”), Italian mostrare (“to show”), Spanish mostrar (“to show”). See also monster. Pronunciation: /ˈmʌstə/, /ˈmʌstɚ/, /ˈmɐstə/, /ˈmʊstə/ 1. To show, exhibit. Labels: obsolete, transitive 2. To be gathered together for parade, inspection, exercise, or the like (especially of a military force); to come together as parts of a force or body. Labels: intransitive Example: We were then in the third week of November; but, we took our measures so vigorously, and were so well seconded by the friends in whom we confided, that there was still a week of the month unexpired, when our party all came down together merrily, and mustered in the haunted house. Example: The whole male population, men and boys, mustered on the top of the hill. 3. To collect, call or assemble together, such as troops or a group for inspection, orders, display etc. Labels: transitive Example: 12 July 2012, Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift With the help of some low-end boosting, Dinklage musters a decent amount of kid-appropriate menace—although he never does explain his gift for finding chunks of ice shaped like pirate ships—but Romano and Leary mainly sound bored, droning through their lines as if they’re simultaneously texting the contractors building the additions on their houses funded by their fat sequel paychecks. Example: England took 57 minutes to muster a shot on target and once again lived dangerously in defence, surviving anxious moments when Ghana hit them on the counter-attack as the contest became a disjointed affair. 4. To enroll (into service). Labels: US, transitive 5. To gather or round up livestock. Labels: Australia, New-Zealand, transitive 6. To look within oneself to summon (a particular positive quality, such as strength, energy or courage); see: muster up. Labels: transitive Example: I couldn't muster the courage to tell him. Example: That which Walter Raleigh had not courage to tell, not one of these men could muster the courage to ask.
Word: muster Part of Speech: noun 1. Synonym of mustee. Example: The next, the Quadroon, from the white and mulatto woman. The third descent, from a white and quadroon, is called a muster; from the fourth, between a white and a muster, springs the musteephinas and the fifth descent, viz. from a white and musteephina, is white by law, and of free birth; indeed the two latter classes are as white as a European. Example: Mixed bloods, they are suspended between two races, — mulattoes, quadroons, musters, mustafinas, cabres, griffies, zambis, quatravis, tresalvis, coyotes, saltatras, albarassados, cambusos, — neither white nor black, but Negroes.
Word: triceps Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Latin triceps (“triple-headed”), from trēs (“three”) + caput (“head”). See there for more details. Pronunciation: /ˈtɹaɪ.sɛps/ 1. Any muscle having three heads. 2. Specifically, the triceps brachii. Example: Kickbacks work the triceps muscle at the back of your arm. Exercising these muscles helps eliminate arm jiggle.
Word: mutter Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English muteren, moteren, of imitative origin. Compare Low German mustern, musseln (“to whisper”), German muttern (“to mutter; whisper”), Old Norse muðla (“to murmur”). Compare also Latin muttīre, mutīre. Pronunciation: /ˈmʌtə/, /ˈmʌtɚ/, [ˈmʌɾɚ], /ˈmɐtə/ 1. A repressed or obscure utterance; an instance of muttering. Example: The prisoners were docile, and accepted their lot with barely a mutter.