mince
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: cooking
food
lifestyle
Etymology: From Middle English mincen, minsen; partly from Old English minsian, ġeminsian (“to make less, make smaller, diminish”), from Proto-West Germanic *minnisōn, from Proto-Germanic *minnisōną (“to make less”); partly from Old French mincer, mincier (“to cut into small pieces”), from mince (“slender, slight, puny”), from Frankish *minsto, *minnisto, superlative of *min, *minn (“small, less”), from Proto-Germanic *minniz (“less”); both from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“small, little”). Cognate with Old Saxon minsōn (“to make less, make smaller”), Old Dutch minson (“to make smaller”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌽𐌶𐌽𐌰𐌽 (minznan, “to become less, diminish”), Swedish minska (“to reduce, lessen”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃 (mins, “slender, slight”). More at min.
Inflected forms:
form: minces
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: minch
pos: noun
tags: alternative
dialectal
form: minse
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: minces
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: mincing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: minced
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: minced
pos: verb
tags: past
form: minch
pos: verb
tags: alternative
dialectal
form: minse
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: Finely chopped meat; minced meat.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: Mince tastes really good fried in a pan with some chopped onion and tomato.
gloss: Finely chopped mixed fruit used in Christmas pies; mincemeat.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: During Christmas time my dad loves to eat mince pies.
gloss: An affected (often dainty or short and precise) gait.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: A wiry little girl in a starched, lemon-colored party dress, she sassed along with a grownup mince, one hand on her hip, the other supporting a spinsterish umbrella.
She was just the same; she had a light way of walking and she always wore flat heels so she didn't have that mince like most girls.
His skin was china pale, he walked with a slight mince, and his silver mustache was always trimmed sharp; it was his custom to send a bouquet of pink carnations to the wives of men with whom he dined.
gloss: An affected manner, especially of speaking; an affectation.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: A very moderate degree of accomplishment in this direction would make an end of stage smart speech, which, like the got-up Oxford mince and drawl of a foolish curate, is the mark of a snob.
And, further, who has not heard what someone has christened the "Oxford" mince, where every consonant is mispronounced and every vowel gets a wrong value?
[...] a smiling man, portly and impressive, coming toward them with a dignified mince in his walk.
gloss: An eye (from mince pie).
pos: noun
tags: Cockney
countable
in-plural
slang
examples: Lancashire is a bit nazi about speed and the M6 in that area can be either clear or infested with vans and their helicopter. On the good side the vans tend to be on well sighted bridges so just keep the old minces peeled.
gloss: Something worthless; rubbish.
pos: noun
tags: UK
slang
uncountable
examples: That band's new album is total mince.
gloss: To make less; to make small.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To lessen; to diminish; to diminish in speaking; to speak of lightly or slightingly; to minimise.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To effect mincingly.
pos: verb
tags: rare
transitive
gloss: To cut into very small pieces; to chop finely.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Butchers often use machines to mince meat.
gloss: To suppress or weaken the force of.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
figuratively
transitive
examples: Siren, now mince the sin, / And mollify damnation with a phrase.
gloss: To say or utter vaguely (not directly or frankly).
pos: verb
examples: to mince one's words
a minced oath
I know no ways to mince it in love, but directly to say — "I love you."
Despite prolonged exposure to harsh conditions, medics say Nora Tallis returned to the Nexus in stable condition. In a statement to HNS, Tallis did not mince words. "Never send me to that hellhole again."
gloss: To affect; to pronounce affectedly or with an accent.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: In some districts of England ll is sounded like w, thus bowd (booud) for BOLD, bw (buu) for BULL, caw (kau) for CALL. But this pronunciation is merely a provincialism, and not to be imitated unless you wish to mince like these blunderers.
One may hear some speakers in Oxford mince brother into brover (brëvë); Bath into Baf; both into bof.
"[…]The preacher said it was sympathetic," she minced the word, remembering Mr. Larsen's manner.
gloss: To walk with short steps; to walk in a prim, affected manner.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: At the last moment Mollie, the foolish, pretty white mare who drew Mr. Jones's trap, came mincing daintily in, chewing at a lump of sugar.
The daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, mincing as they go.
I'll […] turn two mincing steps into a manly stride.
gloss: To act or talk with affected nicety; to affect delicacy in manner.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: I love going to gay bars and seeing drag queens mince around on stage.
Derived words: mincy
thick as mince
minceable
mince matters
mincemeat
mince one's words
mince pie
mincer
mince up
mince words
minsitive
Translations: