mean | |
1. v. To intend. | |
2. v. To intend, to plan (to do); to have as one's intention. | |
I didn't mean to knock your tooth out. | |
I mean to go to Baddeck this summer. | |
I meant to take the car in for a smog check, but it slipped my mind. | |
3. v. (intransitive) To have intentions of a given kind. | |
Don't be angry; she meant well. | |
4. v. (transitive, usually in passive) To intend (something) for a given purpose or fate; to predestine. | |
Actually this desk was meant for the subeditor. | |
Man was not meant to question such things. | |
5. v. To convey meaning. | |
6. v. To convey (a given sense); to signify, or indicate (an object or idea). | |
The sky is red this morning—does that mean we're in for a storm? | |
7. v. Of a word, symbol etc: to have reference to, to signify. | |
What does this hieroglyph mean? | |
8. v. Of a person (or animal etc): to intend to express, to imply, to hint at, to allude. | |
I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean. | |
He is a little different, if you know what I mean. | |
9. v. To have conviction in (something said or expressed); to be sincere in (what one says). | |
Does she really mean what she said to him last night? | |
Say what you mean and mean what you say. | |
10. v. To result in; to bring about. | |
One faltering step means certain death. | |
11. v. To be important (to). | |
My home life means a lot to me. | |
12. v. (Ireland, UK regional) To lament. | |
13. adj. (obsolete) Common; general. | |
14. adj. Of a common or low origin, grade, or quality; common; humble. | |
a man of mean parentage / a mean abode | |
15. adj. Low in quality or degree; inferior; poor; shabby. | |
a mean appearance / mean dress | |
16. adj. Without dignity of mind; destitute of honour; low-minded; spiritless; base. | |
a mean motive | |
17. adj. Of little value or account; worthy of little or no regard; contemptible; despicable. | |
18. adj. (chiefly UK) Ungenerous; stingy; tight-fisted. | |
He's so mean. I've never seen him spend so much as five pounds on presents for his children. | |
19. adj. Disobliging; pettily offensive or unaccommodating; small. | |
20. adj. Selfish; acting without consideration of others; unkind. | |
It was mean to steal the girl's piggy bank, but he just had to get uptown and he had no cash of his own. | |
21. adj. Causing or intending to cause intentional harm; bearing ill will towards another; cruel; malicious. | |
Watch out for her, she's mean. I said good morning to her, and she punched me in the nose. | |
22. adj. Powerful; fierce; harsh; damaging. | |
It must have been a mean typhoon that levelled this town. | |
23. adj. Accomplished with great skill; deft; hard to compete with. | |
Your mother can roll a mean cigarette. | |
He hits a mean backhand. | |
24. adj. (informal, often, childish) Difficult, tricky. | |
This problem is mean! | |
25. adj. Having the mean (see noun below) as its value. | |
26. adj. (obsolete) Middling; intermediate; moderately good, tolerable. | |
27. n. (now chiefly in the plural) A method or course of action used to achieve some result. | |
28. n. (obsolete, in the singular) An intermediate step or intermediate steps. | |
29. n. Something which is intermediate or in the middle; an intermediate value or range of values; a medium. | |
30. n. (music, now historical) The middle part of three-part polyphonic music; now specifically, the alto part in polyphonic music; an alto instrument. | |
31. n. (statistics) The average of a set of values, calculated by summing them together and dividing by the number of terms; the arithmetic mean. | |
32. n. (mathematics) Any function of multiple variables that satisfies certain properties and yields a number representative of its arguments; or, the number so yielded; a measure of central tendency. | |
33. n. (mathematics) Either of the two numbers in the middle of a conventionally presented proportion, as 2 and 3 in 1:2=3:6. | |