Motoring Mo"tor·ing adjective Pertaining to motor cars or automobiles, or to the technology of such; addicted to riding in or driving automobiles; as, motoring parlance; my motoring friend.

Motorize Mo"tor·ize (mō"tẽr*īz) transitive verb [ Motor + -ize .] To substitute motor- driven vehicles, or automobiles, for the horses and horse-drawn vehicles of (a fire department, city, etc.). -- Mo`tor*i*za"tion noun

Motorman Mo"tor·man noun A man who controls a motor.

Motorpathic Mo`tor·path"ic adjective Of or pertaining to motorpathy.

Motorpathy Mo·tor"pa·thy noun [ Latin motor a mover + Greek ..., ..., to suffer.] (Medicine) Kinesiatrics.

Motte Motte noun [ Confer French motte a clod, clump, or hillock.] A clump of trees in a prairie. [ Local, U.S.]

Mottle Mot"tle transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Mottled ; present participle & verbal noun Mottling .] [ From Mottled .] To mark with spots of different color, or shades of color, as if stained; to spot; to maculate.

Mottle Mot"tle noun A mottled appearance.

Mottled Mot"tled adjective [ From Motley .] Marked with spots of different colors; variegated; spotted; as, mottled wood. "The mottled meadows." Drayton.

Motto Mot"to noun ; plural Mottoes . [ Italian motto a word, a saying, Latin muttum a mutter, a grunt, confer muttire , mutire , to mutter, mumble; probably of imitative origin. Confer Mot a word.] 1. (Her.) A sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievment.

2. A sentence, phrase, or word, prefixed to an essay, discourse, chapter, canto, or the like, suggestive of its subject matter; a short, suggestive expression of a guiding principle; a maxim.

It was the motto of a bishop eminent for his piety and good works, . . . "Serve God, and be cheerful."

Addison.

Mottoed Mot"toed adjective Bearing or having a motto; as, a mottoed coat or device.

Motty Mot"ty adjective Full of, or consisting of, motes. [ Written also mottie .] [ Scot.]

The motty dust reek raised by the workmen.

H. Miller.

Mouchoir Mou`choir" (mō`shwär") noun [ French] A handkerchief.

Mouezzin Mou·ez"zin noun [ French] See Muezzin .

Mouflon Mouf"lon noun [ French mouflon .] (Zoology) A wild sheep ( Ovis musimon ), inhabiting the mountains of Sardinia, Corsica, etc. Its horns are very large, with a triangular base and rounded angles. It is supposed by some to be the original of the domestic sheep. Called also musimon or musmon . [ Written also moufflon .]

Mought Mought obsolete imperfect of May . Might.

Mouillation Mouil·la"tion noun [ See Mouillé .] (Phon.) The act of uttering the sound of a mouillé letter.

Mouillé Mouil`lé" adjective [ French, lit., wet.] (Phon.) Applied to certain consonants having a "liquid" or softened sound; e.g. , in French, l or ll and gn (like the lli in million and ni in minion ); in Italian, gl and gn ; in Spanish, ll and ñ ; in Portuguese, lh and nh.

Mould Mould (mōld), Mould"er Mould"y etc. See Mold , Molder , Moldy , etc.

Moule Moule (mōl) intransitive verb [ Middle English moulen . See Mold .] To contract mold; to grow moldy; to mold. [ Obsolete]

Let us not moulen thus in idleness.

Chaucer.

Mouline, Moulinet Mou·line", Mou"li·net noun [ French moulinet , orig., a little mill, dim. of moulin mill. See Mill .] 1. The drum upon which the rope is wound in a capstan, crane, or the like.

2. A machine formerly used for bending a crossbow by winding it up.

3. In sword and saber exercises, a circular swing of the weapon.

Moult Moult (mōlt) v. & noun See Molt .

Moulten Moult"en (-'n) adjective Having molted. [ Obsolete] "A moulten raven." Shak.

Moun Moun (moun) v. , plural of Mow , may. [ Obsolete] Wyclif.

Mounch Mounch (mounch) transitive verb To munch. [ Obsolete]

Mound Mound (mound) noun [ French monde the world, Latin mundus . See Mundane .] 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; -- called also globe .

Mound Mound noun [ Middle English mound , mund , protection, Anglo-Saxon mund protection, hand; akin to Old High German munt , Icelandic mund hand, and probably to Latin manus . See Manual .] An artificial hill or elevation of earth; a raised bank; an embarkment thrown up for defense; a bulwark; a rampart; also, a natural elevation appearing as if thrown up artificially; a regular and isolated hill, hillock, or knoll.

To thrid the thickets or to leap the mounds .

Dryden.

Mound bird . (Zoology) Same as Mound maker (below). -- Mound builders (Ethnol.) , the tribe, or tribes, of North American aborigines who built, in former times, extensive mounds of earth, esp. in the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Formerly they were supposed to have preceded the Indians, but later investigations go to show that they were, in general, identical with the tribes that occupied the country when discovered by Europeans. -- Mound maker (Zoology) , any one of the megapodes. -- Shell mound , a mound of refuse shells, collected by aborigines who subsisted largely on shellfish. See Midden , and Kitchen middens .

Mound Mound transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Mounded ; present participle & verbal noun Mounding .] To fortify or inclose with a mound.

Mount Mount (mount) noun [ Middle English munt , mont , mount , Anglo-Saxon munt , from Latin mons , montis ; confer Latin minae protections, English eminent , menace : confer French mont . Confer Mount , v. , Mountain , Mont , Monte , Montem .] 1. A mass of earth, or earth and rock, rising considerably above the common surface of the surrounding land; a mountain; a high hill; -- used always instead of mountain , when put before a proper name; as, Mount Washington; otherwise, chiefly in poetry.

2. A bulwark for offense or defense; a mound. [ Obsolete]

Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem.

Jer. vi. 6.

3. [ See Mont de piété .] A bank; a fund.

Mount of piety . See Mont de piété .

Mount Mount intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Mounted ; present participle & verbal noun Mounting .] [ Middle English mounten , monten , French monter , from Latin mons , montis , mountain. See Mount , noun (above).] 1. To rise on high; to go up; to be upraised or uplifted; to tower aloft; to ascend; -- often with up .

Though Babylon should mount up to heaven.

Jer. li. 53.

The fire of trees and houses mounts on high.

Cowley.

2. To get up on anything, as a platform or scaffold; especially, to seat one's self on a horse for riding.

3. To attain in value; to amount.

Bring then these blessings to a strict account,
Make fair deductions, see to what they mount .

Pope.

Mount Mount transitive verb 1. To get upon; to ascend; to climb.

Shall we mount again the rural throne?

Dryden.

2. To place one's self on, as a horse or other animal, or anything that one sits upon; to bestride.

3. To cause to mount; to put on horseback; to furnish with animals for riding; to furnish with horses. "To mount the Trojan troop." Dryden.

4. Hence: To put upon anything that sustains and fits for use, as a gun on a carriage, a map or picture on cloth or paper; to prepare for being worn or otherwise used, as a diamond by setting, or a sword blade by adding the hilt, scabbard, etc.

5. To raise aloft; to lift on high.

What power is it which mounts my love so high?

Shak.

» A fort or ship is said to mount cannon, when it has them arranged for use in or about it.

To mount guard (Mil.) , to go on guard; to march on guard; to do duty as a guard. -- To mount a play , to prepare and arrange the scenery, furniture, etc., used in the play.

Mount Mount noun [ From Mount , v. ] That upon which a person or thing is mounted , as: (a) A horse.

She had so good a seat and hand, she might be trusted with any mount .

G. Eliot.

(b) The cardboard or cloth on which a drawing, photograph, or the like is mounted; a mounting.

Mount Mount noun (Palmistry) Any one of seven fleshy prominences in the palm of the hand which are taken as significant of the influence of "planets," and called the mounts of Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, the Moon, Saturn, the Sun or Apollo, and Venus.

Mountable Mount"a·ble adjective Such as can be mounted.

Mountain Moun"tain noun [ Middle English mountaine , montaine , French montagne , Late Latin montanea , montania , from Latin mons , montis , a mountain; confer montanus belonging to a mountain. See 1st Mount .] 1. A large mass of earth and rock, rising above the common level of the earth or adjacent land; earth and rock forming an isolated peak or a ridge; an eminence higher than a hill; a mount.

2. plural A range, chain, or group of such elevations; as, the White Mountains .

3. A mountainlike mass; something of great bulk.

I should have been a mountain of mummy.

Shak.

The Mountain ( La montagne ) (French Hist.) , a popular name given in 1793 to a party of extreme Jacobins in the National Convention, who occupied the highest rows of seats.

Mountain Moun"tain (moun"tĭn) adjective 1. Of or pertaining to a mountain or mountains; growing or living on a mountain; found on or peculiar to mountains; among mountains; as, a mountain torrent; mountain pines; mountain goats; mountain air; mountain howitzer.

2. Like a mountain; mountainous; vast; very great.

The high, the mountain majesty of worth.

Byron.

Mountain antelope (Zoology) , the goral. -- Mountain ash (Botany) , an ornamental tree, the Pyrus (Sorbus) Americana , producing beautiful bunches of red berries. Its leaves are pinnate, and its flowers white, growing in fragrant clusters. The European species is the P. aucuparia , or rowan tree. -- Mountain barometer , a portable barometer, adapted for safe transportation, used in measuring the heights of mountains. -- Mountain beaver (Zoology) , the sewellel. -- Mountain blue (Min.) , blue carbonate of copper; azurite. -- Mountain cat (Zoology) , the catamount. See Catamount . -- Mountain chain , a series of contiguous mountain ranges, generally in parallel or consecutive lines or curves. -- Mountain cock (Zoology) , capercailzie. See Capercailzie . -- Mountain cork (Min.) , a variety of asbestus, resembling cork in its texture. -- Mountain crystal . See under Crystal . -- Mountain damson (Botany) , a large tree of the genus Simaruba ( S. amarga ) growing in the West Indies, which affords a bitter tonic and astringent, sometimes used in medicine. -- Mountain dew , Scotch whisky, so called because often illicitly distilled among the mountains. [ Humorous] -- Mountain ebony (Botany) , a small leguminous tree ( Bauhinia variegata ) of the East and West Indies; -- so called because of its dark wood. The bark is used medicinally and in tanning. -- Mountain flax (Min.) , a variety of asbestus, having very fine fibers; amianthus. See Amianthus . -- Mountain fringe (Botany) , climbing fumitory. See under Fumitory . -- Mountain goat . (Zoology) See Mazama . -- Mountain green . (Min.) (a) Green malachite, or carbonate of copper . (b) See Green earth , under Green , adjective -- Mountain holly (Botany) , a branching shrub ( Nemopanthes Canadensis ), having smooth oblong leaves and red berries. It is found in the Northern United States. -- Mountain laurel (Botany) , an American shrub ( Kalmia latifolia ) with glossy evergreen leaves and showy clusters of rose-colored or white flowers. The foliage is poisonous. Called also American laurel , ivy bush , and calico bush . See Kalmia . -- Mountain leather (Min.) , a variety of asbestus, resembling leather in its texture. -- Mountain licorice (Botany) , a plant of the genus Trifolium ( T. Alpinum ). - - Mountain limestone (Geol.) , a series of marine limestone strata below the coal measures, and above the old red standstone of Great Britain. See Chart of Geology . -- Mountain linnet (Zoology) , the twite. -- Mountain magpie . (Zoology) (a) The yaffle, or green woodpecker . (b) The European gray shrike. -- Mountain mahogany (Botany) See under Mahogany . -- Mountain meal (Min.) , a light powdery variety of calcite, occurring as an efflorescence. -- Mountain milk (Min.) , a soft spongy variety of carbonate of lime. -- Mountain mint . (Botany) See Mint . -- Mountain ousel (Zoology) , the ring ousel; -- called also mountain thrush and mountain colley . See Ousel . -- Mountain pride , or Mountain green (Botany) , a tree of Jamaica ( Spathelia simplex ), which has an unbranched palmlike stem, and a terminal cluster of large, pinnate leaves. -- Mountain quail (Zoology) , the plumed partridge ( Oreortyx pictus ) of California. It has two long, slender, plumelike feathers on the head. The throat and sides are chestnut; the belly is brown with transverse bars of black and white; the neck and breast are dark gray. -- Mountain range , a series of mountains closely related in position and direction. -- Mountain rice . (Botany) (a) An upland variety of rice, grown without irrigation, in some parts of Asia, Europe, and the United States . (b) An American genus of grasses ( Oryzopsis ). -- Mountain rose (Botany) , a species of rose with solitary flowers, growing in the mountains of Europe ( Rosa alpina ). -- Mountain soap (Min.) , a soft earthy mineral, of a brownish color, used in crayon painting; saxonite. -- Mountain sorrel (Botany) , a low perennial plant ( Oxyria digyna with rounded kidney-form leaves, and small greenish flowers, found in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and in high northern latitudes. Gray. -- Mountain sparrow (Zoology) , the European tree sparrow. -- Mountain spinach . (Botany) See Orach . -- Mountain tobacco (Botany) , a composite plant ( Arnica montana ) of Europe; called also leopard's bane . -- Mountain witch (Zoology) , a ground pigeon of Jamaica, of the genus Geotrygon .

Mountain specter Moun"tain spec"ter An optical phenomenon sometimes seen on the summit of mountains (as on the Brocken) when the observer is between the sun and a mass of cloud. The figures of the observer and surrounding objects are seen projected on the cloud, greatly enlarged and often encircled by rainbow colors.

Mountain State Moun"tain State Montana; -- a nickname.

Mountaineer Moun`tain·eer" (moun`tĭn*ēr") noun [ Old French montanier , Late Latin montanarius . See Mountain .] 1. An inhabitant of a mountain; one who lives among mountains.

2. A rude, fierce person. [ Obsolete]

No savage fierce, bandit, or mountaineer .

Milton.

Mountaineer Moun`tain·eer" intransitive verb To live or act as a mountaineer; to climb mountains.

You can't go mountaineering in a flat country.

H. James.

Mountainer Moun"tain·er noun A mountaineer. [ Obsolete]

Mountainet Moun"tain·et noun A small mountain. [ R.]

Mountainous Moun"tain·ous adjective [ French montagneux , Latin montaniosus .] 1. Full of, or containing, mountains; as, the mountainous country of the Swiss.

2. Inhabiting mountains. [ Obsolete] Bacon.

3. Large as, or resembling, a mountain; huge; of great bulk; as, a mountainous heap. Prior.

Mountainousness Moun"tain·ous·ness noun The state or quality of being mountainous.

Mountance Mount"ance noun [ Old French montance .] Amount; sum; quantity; extent. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Mountant Mount"ant adjective [ French montant , present participle of monter . See Mount , and confer Montant .] Raised; high. [ Obsolete]

Mountebank Mount"e·bank noun [ Italian montimbanco , montambanco ; montare to mount + in in, upon + banco bench. See Mount , and 4th Bank .] 1. One who mounts a bench or stage in the market or other public place, boasts of his skill in curing diseases, and vends medicines which he pretends are infallible remedies; a quack doctor.

Such is the weakness and easy credulity of men, that a mountebank . . . is preferred before an able physician.

Whitlock.

2. Any boastful or false pretender; a charlatan; a quack.

Nothing so impossible in nature but mountebanks will undertake.

Arbuthnot.

Mountebank Mount"e·bank transitive verb To cheat by boasting and false pretenses; to gull. [ R.] Shak.

Mountebank Mount"e·bank intransitive verb To play the mountebank.

Mountebankery Mount"e·bank`er·y noun The practices of a mountebank; quackery; boastful and vain pretenses.

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