English dictionary — definitions & meanings

mounted

adjective

Riding on a horse (or similar animal).

mounter

noun

One who mounts.

Mountie

noun

An informal name for a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

mounting

adjective

Steadily increasing or building up.

mourn

verb

To feel or express deep sadness, especially over someone's death.

mournful

adjective

Full of sadness or grief.

mournfully

adv

In a mournful manner; as if in mourning for something.

mourning

noun

The act or state of grieving, especially after a death.

mouse

noun

A small rodent with a long tail, common in houses and fields.

mouser

noun

A cat that catches mice, kept specifically for the purpose.

mousetrap

noun

A device designed to catch or kill mice.

mousse

noun

A light, airy dessert, often chocolate-flavored, served chilled.

moustache

noun

Hair grown on the upper lip.

mousy

adjective

Quiet, shy, or unassuming in manner.

mouth

noun

The opening in the face used for eating and speaking.

mouthed

adjective

Having a mouth of a particular kind (used in compounds like "foul-mouthed" or "wide-mouthed").

mouthful

noun

The amount of food or drink that fills the mouth at once.

mouthing

noun

Silently shaping words with the lips without making sound.

mouthpiece

noun

The part of an instrument or device placed at or near the mouth.

mouthwash

noun

A liquid used to rinse and freshen the mouth.

mouthwatering

adj

Causing one to salivate.

mouthy

adjective

Talking too much, especially in a loud or cheeky way.

mouton

noun

A 14th-century French gold coin, weighing about 70 grains.

movability

noun

The condition of being movable; ability or capacity to be moved.

movable

adj

Capable of being moved, lifted, carried, drawn, turned, or conveyed, or in any way made to change place or posture; not fixed or stationary.

move

verb

To change position or location.

moved

adjective

Emotionally affected, often touched or saddened.

movember

name

A charity event held each November, where men grow moustaches to raise funds and awareness for men's health issues.

movement

noun

An act of changing position or place, or the general fact of not being still.

mover

noun

A person hired to help transport belongings when someone relocates.

moves

noun

Skill or style in dancing or physical action, informally.

movie

noun

A film made for entertainment, shown in cinemas or streamed at home.

movies

noun

The cinema industry or a trip to see a film, informally.

moving

adjective

Causing strong feelings, especially sadness or sympathy.

moving forward

adverb

From now on; in the future. Used in business talk to signal a change in how things will be done.

moving on

phrase

Accepting that something painful is over and letting go of it enough to get on with life.

mow

verb

To cut grass or crops close to the ground.

Mowbray

name

An English surname of Norman origin, also the name of suburbs in Australia and South Africa.

mower

noun

A machine used to cut grass.

mowing

noun

The activity of cutting grass or crops.

moxie

noun

Courage, boldness, and force of character.

moya

noun

A flow of thick, muddy volcanic debris, formed when snow, ice, or water mixes with ash during an eruption.

Moyer

name

A surname.

Moz

name

A nickname for Morrissey, the English singer-songwriter born in 1959.

Mozambique

name

A country on the southeastern coast of Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, with its capital at Maputo.

Mozart

noun

By comparison to composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a person of extraordinary natural talent in music or another field.

mozzarella

noun

A soft, mild Italian cheese, often used on pizza or in salads.

MP3

noun

An audio format that shrinks a music or speech recording by removing sound the ear is least likely to notice, making files small enough to store and share easily.

MP4

noun

A widely supported file format that holds video together with sound, and sometimes subtitles, in a single file.

mpg

symbol

Alternative letter-case form of MPG.

mpls

name

Alternative letter-case form of Mpls (“Minneapolis”).

MRI

noun

A medical scan that uses magnetic fields to produce detailed images of the inside of the body (short for magnetic resonance imaging).

mRNA

noun

Messenger RNA: a single-stranded molecule that carries the instructions copied from a gene in DNA out to the cell's ribosomes, where they are used to build a protein.

Mrs

abbreviation

A title placed before the surname or full name of a married woman.

Ms

noun

A title placed before a woman's name that doesn't reveal whether she is married.

msec

noun

A millisecond, ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ of a second.

MSG

abbreviation

Monosodium glutamate, a white crystalline salt added to food to deepen its savoury flavour.

mtb

noun

Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

MTF

adjective

Male-to-female: describing a transgender person who was assigned male at birth and identifies and lives as a woman.

MTV

name

A television channel best known for playing music videos, now mostly known for reality shows and youth entertainment.

mu

noun

The twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet (Μ, μ).

MUA

abbreviation

Makeup artist, a person who applies makeup professionally, especially for weddings, photography, film or social media.

muah

interjection

An imitation of the sound of a kiss, written at the end of a message or said out loud to send affection.

Muay

noun

Short for Muay Thai, the striking-based martial art and combat sport from Thailand.

Mubarak

name

An Arabic given name and surname meaning "blessed."

much

det

A large amount of something, usually something uncountable.

muchacho

noun

An informal, friendly way to address a young man, similar to "dude" or "pal."

mucho

adj

A great deal of; a lot (used informally, borrowed from Spanish).

mucho gusto

interjection

A Spanish phrase meaning 'nice to meet you', said when being introduced to someone for the first time.

mucilage

noun

A thick gluey substance (gum) produced by many plants and some microorganisms.

muck

noun

Wet, sticky dirt, mud, or manure.

mucker

noun

A person who removes muck (waste, debris, broken rock, etc.), especially from a mine, construction site, or stable.

Mucking

name

A hamlet in Essex, England.

muckle

verb

To latch onto something with the mouth.

muckworm

noun

A larva living in mud or manure.

mucky

adj

Covered in mud or dirt.

mucosal

adj

Of or pertaining to the mucous membranes (mucosae).

mucous

adj

Relating to, or having the slippery, slimy quality of, mucus.

mucus

noun

The slippery fluid produced by the lining of the nose, throat, lungs, gut and other internal surfaces, which keeps them moist and traps dust and germs.

MUD

noun

A soft, wet mixture of soil and water.

muddied

adj

Having been made unclear, obfuscated.

muddiness

noun

The characteristic of being muddy.

muddle

verb

To mix things up in a confusing way, or to think in a confused, unclear manner.

muddled

adj

Confused or unclear; lacking order.

muddling

noun

The act of one who muddles; confusion; disorderly progress.

muddy

adj

Covered in, or full of, mud.

mudpuddle

noun

A puddle of mud or muddy water.

mudstone

noun

A fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds.

Mueller

name

A German surname, an anglicized spelling of Müller, meaning "miller."

muff

noun

A tube-shaped covering, often fur, that both hands are tucked into for warmth.

muffett

name

A surname from Scottish Gaelic.

muffin

noun

A small, cake-like baked good, often eaten for breakfast, that can be sweet (blueberry, chocolate chip) or savoury (bran, corn).

muffle

noun

Anything that mutes or deadens sound.

muffled

adj

Made quieter or less distinct, as if covered or wrapped up.

muffler

noun

(US) The part of a car's exhaust system that reduces engine noise.

Muffy

name

A female given name, typically a nickname shortened from Mary, Margaret, or a similar name.

mufti

noun

A Muslim legal scholar qualified to issue a fatwa, a formal ruling on a point of Islamic law.

mug

noun

A large cup with a handle, used for hot drinks, without a saucer.

mugger

noun

Someone who attacks and robs people, typically in public.

mugginess

noun

The characteristic of being muggy.

mugging

noun

A sudden, violent robbery of a person, often in a public place.

muggins

noun

A fool or idiot (especially as an ironic way of referring to oneself).

muggle

noun

A marijuana cigarette; a joint.

muggy

adj

Humid, or hot and humid.

mugshot

noun

A photograph of a person's face taken by the police after an arrest, usually from the front and the side, and kept on record.

muh

det

Pronunciation spelling of my.

Muhammad

name

The founder of Islam, regarded by Muslims as God's final prophet and the one who received the Qur'an.

muhtar

noun

An elected village or neighborhood official in modern Turkey.

mui

noun

The Chinese plum, a small sour fruit often preserved in salt, sugar, or licorice.

muid

noun

An old French liquid measure of approximately 274.2 litres.

muir

noun

(Scots) A moor — an open area of rough, uncultivated land.

muirhead

name

A Scottish surname.

mujahid

noun

A Muslim engaging in jihad, especially armed jihad; a jihadist.

Mukherjee

name

A Bengali surname.

Mukhtar

name

A surname of Arabic origin.

mukluk

noun

A soft knee-high boot of sealskin or reindeer skin, originally worn by Inuit and Yupik.

Mulan

name

A legendary female warrior from Chinese folklore who disguised herself as a man to take her father's place in the army.

mulatto

noun

A historical term, now widely considered dated or offensive, for a person of mixed Black and white ancestry.

mulberry

noun

A tree that produces small, sweet, blackberry-like fruit, and whose leaves are famously used to feed silkworms.

Mulcahy

name

An Irish surname.

mulch

noun

A layer of material, such as bark, straw, or compost, spread over soil to protect it, keep in moisture, or block weeds.

mulct

noun

A fine or penalty, especially a pecuniary one.

Mulder

name

A Dutch surname equivalent to the English surname Miller.

Muldoon

name

An Irish surname, and the name of places in Alaska and Texas.

mule

noun

The offspring of a male donkey and a female horse, typically sterile and known for being sure-footed and stubborn.

mules

verb

To surgically remove skin around a sheep's tail to prevent flystrike (a livestock practice).

Mulholland

name

A surname of Irish origin.

muliebral

adj

Womanly, feminine, relating to or in the manner of an adult woman.

muliebrity

noun

The state or quality of being a woman; the features of a woman's nature; femininity, womanhood.

mulier

noun

A child born lawfully in wedlock, in distinction from an elder sibling born of the same parents before their marriage (bastard eigne).

mulish

adj

Characteristic of a mule; stubborn, obstinate, or intractable.

mulishness

noun

The characteristic of being mulish.

mull

verb

To think something over slowly and carefully, turning it over in your mind.

mulla

name

A locality in the Bogan council area, central New South Wales, Australia.

mullah

noun

A Muslim religious scholar or cleric, especially one trained in Islamic law.

Mullen

name

A surname, and the name of several small places in the United States.

muller

noun

A heavy stone or tool with a flat grinding surface, held and rubbed by hand to crush pigments, powders, or other materials.

mullered

adj

Badly damaged or completely destroyed; ruined, trashed, wrecked.

mullet

noun

Any of several related fish species, especially the grey mullet, found in coastal and freshwater habitats.

Mulligan

name

An Irish surname.

mulling

noun

The act of thinking something over carefully before reaching a decision.

Mullins

name

A surname, and the name of a city in South Carolina, United States.

mullock

noun

Rubbish, waste matter.

mulloy

name

A surname from Irish.

Mulrooney

name

A surname of Irish origin.

multi

noun

Informal short form for anything described as multi- something, most often used loosely as a prefix in casual speech.

multicentennial

adj

That happens on many multiples of a hundred years

multicity

adj

Taking place between or relating to two or more cities.

multicooker

noun

A multifunctional cooker.

multicropping

noun

The practice of growing two or more crops on the same piece of land during a single growing season.