Meadowsweet - Measles

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{ Meadowsweet (?), Meadowwort (?), } n. (Bot.) The name of several plants of the genus Spiræa, especially the white- or pink-flowered Spiræa salicifolia, a low European and American shrub, and the herbaceous Spiræa Ulmaria, which has fragrant white flowers in compound cymes.
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Meadowy (?), a. Of or pertaining to meadows; resembling, or consisting of, meadow.
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{ Meager, Meagre } (?), a. [OE. merge, F. maigre, L. macer; akin to D. & G. mager, Icel. magr, and prob. to Gr. makros long. Cf. , .]
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1. Destitue of, or having little, flesh; lean.
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Meager were his looks;
Sharp misery had worn him to the bones. Shak.
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2. Destitute of richness, fertility, strength, or the like; defective in quantity, or poor in quality; poor; barren; scanty in ideas; wanting strength of diction or affluence of imagery; as, meager resources; meager fare. Opposite of ample. [wns=1] [Narrower terms: exiguous] [Narrower terms: hardscrabble, marginal] [Narrower terms: measly, miserable, paltry] “Meager soil.” Dryden.
Syn. -- meagre, meagerly, scanty.
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Of secular habits and meager religious belief. I. Taylor.
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His education had been but meager. Motley.
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3. (Min.) Dry and harsh to the touch, as chalk.
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4. less than a desirable amount; -- of items distributed from a larger supply. [wns=2]
Syn. -- scrimpy, skimpy, skimping.
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Syn. -- Thin; lean; lank; gaunt; starved; hungry; poor; emaciated; scanty; barren.
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{ Meager, Meagre }, v. t. To make lean. [Obs.]
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meagerly adj. same as , 2. Opposite of ample.
Syn. -- meager, meagre.
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{ Meagerly, Meagrely }, adv. Poorly; thinly.
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{ Meagerness, Meagreness }, n. The state or quality of being meager; leanness; scantiness; barrenness.
Syn. -- meagreness, poorness, scantiness, scantness, exiguity.
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Meagre (?), n. [F. maigre.] (Zoöl.) A large European sciænoid fish (Sciæna umbra or Sciæna aquila), having white bloodless flesh. It is valued as a food fish. [Written also maigre.]
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Meak (?), n. [Cf. AS. mēce sword, OS. māki, Icel. mækir.] A hook with a long handle. [Obs.] Tusser.
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Meaking, n. [See .] (Naut.) The process of picking out the oakum from the seams of a vessel which is to be recalked.
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Coloq. Meaking iron (Naut.), the tool with which old oakum is picked out of a vessel's seams.
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Meal (mēl), n. [OE. mele, AS. mǣl part, portion, portion of time; akin to E. meal a repast. Cf. .] A part; a fragment; a portion. [Obs.]
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Meal, n. [OE. mel; akin to E. meal a part, and to D. maal time, meal, G. mal time, mahl meal, Icel. māl measure, time, meal, Goth. mēl time, and to E. measure. See .] The portion of food taken at a particular time for the satisfaction of appetite; the quantity usually taken at one time with the purpose of satisfying hunger; a repast; the act or time of eating a meal; as, the traveler has not eaten a good meal for a week; there was silence during the meal.
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What strange fish
Hath made his meal on thee? Shak.
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Meal, n. [OE. mele, AS. melu, melo; akin to D. meel, G. mehl, OHG. melo, Icel. mjöl, SW. mjöl, Dan. meel, also to D. malen to grind, G. mahlen, OHG., OS., & Goth. malan, Icel. mala, W. malu, L. molere, Gr. mylh mill, and E. mill. √108. Cf. , soil, an animal, , .]
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1. Grain (esp. maize, rye, or oats) that is coarsely ground and unbolted; also, a kind of flour made from beans, pease, etc.; sometimes, any flour, esp. if coarse.
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2. Any substance that is coarsely pulverized like meal, but not granulated.
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Coloq. Meal beetle (Zoöl.), the adult of the meal worm. See Meal worm, below. -- Coloq. Meal moth (Zoöl.), a lepidopterous insect (Asopia farinalis), the larvæ of which feed upon meal, flour, etc. -- Coloq. Meal worm (Zoöl.), the larva of a beetle (Tenebrio molitor) which infests granaries, bakehouses, etc., and is very injurious to flour and meal.
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Meal, v. t. 1. To sprinkle with, or as with, meal. Shak.
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2. To pulverize; as, mealed powder.
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Mealies (?), n. pl. [From .] (Bot.) Maize or Indian corn; -- the common name in South Africa.
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Mealiness (?), n. The quality or state of being mealy.
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Meal-mouthed (?), a. See .
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meals on wheels, meals-on-wheels n. A program that delivers hot meals to persons, such as the elderly or disabled, who are confined to their homes and unable to cook for themselves; also, the meals thus delivered. Such programs are usually conducted by governmental or charitable organizations.
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Mealtime (mēltīm), n. The usual time of eating a meal.
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Mealy (mēl�), a. [Compar. Mealier (?); superl. Mealiest.] 1. Having the qualities of meal; resembling meal; soft, dry, and friable; easily reduced to a condition resembling meal; as, a mealy potato.
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2. Overspread with something that resembles meal; as, the mealy wings of an insect. Shak.
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mealybug, mealy bug (mēl�bŭg), n. (Zoöl.), Any of several homopteran scale insects (as, Coccus adonidum, and related species of the families Pseudococcidae and Eriococcidae), that cover themselves with a white powderlike or cottony wax secretion. They are common plant-eating pests in hothouses and are also destructive of fruit trees.
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Mealy-mouthed (?), a. Using soft words; not straightforward; plausible; affectedly or timidly delicate of speech; speaking deviously; unwilling to tell the truth in plain language. Opposite of frank or blunt. “Mealy-mouthed philanthropies.” Tennyson.
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She was a fool to be mealy-mouthed where nature speaks so plain. L'Estrange.
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-- Mealy-mouthness (#), n.
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Mean (mēn), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Meant (mĕnt); p. pr. & vb. n. Meaning.] [OE. menen, AS. mǣnan to recite, tell, intend, wish; akin to OS. mēnian to have in mind, mean, D. meenen, G. meinen, OHG. meinan, Icel. meina, Sw. mena, Dan. mene, and to E. mind. √104. See , and cf. .] 1. To have in the mind, as a purpose, intention, etc.; to intend; to purpose; to design; as, what do you mean to do?
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What mean ye by this service ? Ex. xii. 26.
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Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good. Gen. 1. 20.
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I am not a Spaniard
To say that it is yours and not to mean it. Longfellow.
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2. To signify; to indicate; to import; to denote.
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What mean these seven ewe lambs ? Gen. xxi. 29.
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Go ye, and learn what that meaneth. Matt. ix. 13.
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Mean, v. i. To have a purpose or intention. [Rare, except in the phrase to mean well, or ill.] Shak.
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Mean (mēn), a. [Compar. Meaner (mēnẽr); superl. Meanest.] [OE. mene, AS. mǣne wicked; akin to mān, a., wicked, n., wickedness, OS. mēn wickedness, OHG. mein, G. meineid perjury, Icel. mein harm, hurt, and perh. to AS. gemǣne common, general, D. gemeen, G. gemein, Goth. gamáins, and L. communis. The AS. gemǣne prob. influenced the meaning.]
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1. Destitute of distinction or eminence; common; low; vulgar; humble. “Of mean parentage.” Sir P. Sidney.
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The mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself. Is. ii. 9.
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2. Wanting dignity of mind; low-minded; base; destitute of honor; spiritless; as, a mean motive.
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Can you imagine I so mean could prove,
To save my life by changing of my love ? Dryden.
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3. Of little value or account; worthy of little or no regard; contemptible; despicable.
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The Roman legions and great Cæsar found
Our fathers no mean foes. J. Philips.
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4. Of poor quality; as, mean fare.
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5. Penurious; stingy; close-fisted; illiberal; as, mean hospitality.
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☞ Mean is sometimes used in the formation of compounds, the sense of which is obvious without explanation; as, meanborn, mean-looking, etc.
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Syn. -- Base; ignoble; abject; beggarly; wretched; degraded; degenerate; vulgar; vile; servile; menial; spiritless; groveling; slavish; dishonorable; disgraceful; shameful; despicable; contemptible; paltry; sordid. See .
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Mean, a. [OE. mene, OF. meiien, F. moyen, fr. L. medianus that is in the middle, fr. medius; akin to E. mid. See .] 1. Occupying a middle position; middle; being about midway between extremes.
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Being of middle age and a mean stature. Sir. P. Sidney.
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2. Intermediate in excellence of any kind.
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According to the fittest style of lofty, mean, or lowly. Milton.
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3. (Math.) Average; having an intermediate value between two extremes, or between the several successive values of a variable quantity during one cycle of variation; as, mean distance; mean motion; mean solar day.
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Coloq. Mean distance (of a planet from the sun) (Astron.), the average of the distances throughout one revolution of the planet, equivalent to the semi-major axis of the orbit. -- Coloq. Mean error (Math. Phys.), the average error of a number of observations found by taking the mean value of the positive and negative errors without regard to sign. -- Coloq. Mean-square error , or Coloq. Error of the mean square (Math. Phys.), the error the square of which is the mean of the squares of all the errors; -- called also, mean square deviation, mean error. -- Coloq. Mean line . (Crystallog.) Same as . -- Coloq. Mean noon , noon as determined by mean time. -- Coloq. Mean proportional (between two numbers) (Math.), the square root of their product. -- Coloq. Mean sun , a fictitious sun supposed to move uniformly in the equator so as to be on the meridian each day at mean noon. -- Coloq. Mean time , time as measured by an equable motion, as of a perfect clock, or as reckoned on the supposition that all the days of the year are of a mean or uniform length, in contradistinction from apparent time, or that actually indicated by the sun, and from sidereal time, or that measured by the stars.
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Mean, n. 1. That which is mean, or intermediate, between two extremes of place, time, or number; the middle point or place; middle rate or degree; mediocrity; medium; absence of extremes or excess; moderation; measure.
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But to speak in a mean, the virtue of prosperity is temperance; the virtue of adversity is fortitude. Bacon.
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There is a mean in all things. Dryden.
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The extremes we have mentioned, between which the wellinstracted Christian holds the mean, are correlatives. I. Taylor.
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2. (Math.) A quantity having an intermediate value between several others, from which it is derived, and of which it expresses the resultant value; usually, unless otherwise specified, it is the simple average, formed by adding the quantities together and dividing by their number, which is called an arithmetical mean. A geometrical mean is the nth root of the product of the n quantities being averaged.
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3. That through which, or by the help of which, an end is attained; something tending to an object desired; intermediate agency or measure; necessary condition or coagent; instrument.
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Their virtuous conversation was a mean to work the conversion of the heathen to Christ. Hooker.
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You may be able, by this mean, to review your own scientific acquirements. Coleridge.
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Philosophical doubt is not an end, but a mean. Sir W. Hamilton.
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☞ In this sense the word is usually employed in the plural form means, and often with a singular attribute or predicate, as if a singular noun.
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By this means he had them more at vantage. Bacon.
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What other means is left unto us. Shak.
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4. pl. Hence: Resources; property, revenue, or the like, considered as the condition of easy livelihood, or an instrumentality at command for effecting any purpose; disposable force or substance.
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Your means are very slender, and your waste is great. Shak.
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5. (Mus.) A part, whether alto or tenor, intermediate between the soprano and base; a middle part. [Obs.]
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The mean is drowned with your unruly base. Shak.
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6. Meantime; meanwhile. [Obs.] Spenser.
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7. A mediator; a go-between. [Obs.] Piers Plowman.
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He wooeth her by means and by brokage. Chaucer.
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Coloq. By all means , certainly; without fail; as, go, by all means. -- Coloq. By any means , in any way; possibly; at all.
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If by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead. Phil. iii. ll.
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-- Coloq. By no means , or Coloq. By no manner of means , not at all; certainly not; not in any degree.
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The wine on this side of the lake is by no means so good as that on the other. Addison.
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Meander (?), n. [L. Maeander, orig., a river in Phrygia, proverbial for its many windings, Gr. �: cf. F. méandre.] 1. A winding, crooked, or involved course; as, the meanders of the veins and arteries. Sir M. Hale.
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While lingering rivers in meanders glide. Sir R. Blackmore.
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2. A tortuous or intricate movement.
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3. (Arch.) Fretwork. See .
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Meander, v. t. To wind, turn, or twist; to make flexuous. Dryton.
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Meander, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Meandered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Meandering.] To wind or turn in a course or passage; to be intricate.
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Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran. Coleridge.
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Meandrian (?), a. [L. Maeandrius: cf. F. méandrien.] Winding; having many turns.
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Meandrina (?), n. [NL.: cf. F. méandrine.] (Zoöl.) A genus of corals with meandering grooves and ridges, including the brain corals.
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{ Meandrous (?), Meandry (?), } a. Winding; flexuous.
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Meaning (?), n. 1. That which is meant or intended; intent; purpose; aim; object; as, a mischievous meaning was apparent.
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If there be any good meaning towards you. Shak.
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2. That which is signified, whether by act lanquage; signification; sense; import; as, the meaning of a hint.
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3. Sense; power of thinking. [R.]
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-- Meaningless, a. -- Meaningly, adv.
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meaningful adj. Having a meaning or purpose; having significance; as, a meaningful explanation; a meaningful discussion; a meaningful pause; to live a meaningful life. Opposite of meaningless. [Narrower terms: comprehensible, understandable; indicative, significative, suggestive ; meaty, substantive ; purposeful] Also See: , , .
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meaningfulness n. the quality of having great meaning or value.
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meaningless adj. having no meaning; of no value; as, a meaningless endeavor; a meaningless life; a meaningless explanation. Opposite of meaningful. [Narrower terms: insignificant ; mindless, unmeaning ; nonsense(prenominal), nonsensical ; pointless, purposeless ] Also See: , , , .
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Meanly, adv. [ middle.] Moderately. [Obs.]
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A man meanly learned himself, but not meanly affectioned to set forward learning in others. Ascham.
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Meanly, adv. [From low.] In a mean manner; unworthily; basely; poorly; ungenerously.
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While the heaven-born child
All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies. Milton.
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Would you meanly thus rely
On power you know I must obey ? Prior.
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We can not bear to have others think meanly of them [our kindred]. I. Watts.
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Meanness, n. 1. The condition, or quality, of being mean; want of excellence; poorness; lowness; baseness; sordidness; stinginess.
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This figure is of a later date, by the meanness of the workmanship. Addison.
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2. A mean act; as, to be guilty of meanness. Goldsmith.
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meanspirited, mean-spirited (?), a. 1. Of a mean spirit; petty; small-minded; base; groveling; -- of people. -- Mean-spiritedness, n.
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2. Done for malevolent reasons; -- of deeds and actions.
Syn. -- base, contemptible, currish, mean, meanspirited, scurvy.
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Meant (?), imp. & p. p. of .
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{ Meantime (?), Meanwhile (?), } n. The intervening time; as, in the meantime (or mean time).
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{ Meantime, Meanwhile, } adv. In the intervening time; during the interval.
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Mear (?), n. A boundary. See . [Obs.]
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Mease (?), n. [Cf. G. mass measure.] Five hundred; as, a mease of herrings. [Prov. Eng.]
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Measelry (?), n. [OE. meselrie, OF. mesellerie. See 1st .] Leprosy. [Obs.] R. of Brunne.
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Measle (?), n. [OE. mesel, OF. mesel, LL. misellus, L. misellus unfortunate, dim. of miser. See .] A leper. [Obs.] [Written also meazel, and mesel.] Wyclif (Matt. x. 8. ).
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Measle, n. (Zoöl.) A tapeworm larva. See 2d , 4.
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Measled (?), a. [See 2d .] Infected or spotted with measles, as pork. -- Measledness, n.
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Measles (?), n. [From 1st .] Leprosy; also, a leper. [Obs.]
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Measles, n.; pl. in form, but used as singular in senses 1, 2, & 3. [D. mazelen; akin to G. masern, pl., and E. mazer, and orig. meaning, little spots. See .]
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1. (Med.) A contagious viral febrile disorder commencing with catarrhal symptoms, and marked by the appearance on the third day of an eruption of distinct red circular spots, which coalesce in a crescentic form, are slightly raised above the surface, and after the fourth day of the eruption gradually decline; rubeola. It is a common childhood disease.
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Measles commences with the ordinary symptoms of fever. Am. Cyc.
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