Mayoress noun The wife of a mayor.

Mayorship noun The office of a mayor.

Maypole noun A tall pole erected in an open place and wreathed with flowers, about which the rustic May-day sports were had.

Maypop noun [ Perh. corrupt. from maracock .] (Botany) The edible fruit of a passion flower, especially that of the North American Passiflora incarnata , an oval yellowish berry as large as a small apple.

Mayweed noun (Botany) (a) A composite plant ( Anthemis Cotula ), having a strong odor; dog's fennel. It is a native of Europe, now common by the roadsides in the United States. (b) The feverfew.

Mazama, Mazame noun (Zoology) A goatlike antelope ( Haplocerus montanus ) which inhabits the Rocky Mountains, frequenting the highest parts; -- called also mountain goat .

Mazard noun [ Confer French merise a wild cherry.] (Botany) A kind of small black cherry.

Mazard noun [ Prob. from mazer , the head being compared to a large goblet.] The jaw; the head or skull. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Mazard transitive verb , To knock on the head. [ Obsolete]

Mazarine adjective Of or pertaining to Cardinal Mazarin , prime minister of France, 1643-1661.

Mazarine Bible , the first Bible, and perhaps the first complete book, printed with movable metal types; -- printed by Gutenberg at Mentz, 1450-55; -- so called because a copy was found in the Mazarine Library, at Paris, about 1760. -- Mazarine blue , a deep blue color, named in honor of Cardinal Mazarin.

Mazarine noun Mazarine blue.

Mazarine noun (Cookery) A forcemeat entrée.

Mazdean adjective Of or pertaining to Ahura- Mazda , or Ormuzd, the beneficent deity in the Zoroastrian dualistic system; hence, Zoroastrian.

Mazdeism noun The Zoroastrian religion.

Maze noun [ Middle English mase ; confer Middle English masen to confuse, puzzle, Norweg. masast to fall into a slumber, masa to be continually busy, prate, chatter, Icelandic masa to chatter, dial. Swedish masa to bask, be slow, work slowly and lazily, mas slow, lazy.]
1. A wild fancy; a confused notion. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

2. Confusion of thought; perplexity; uncertainty; state of bewilderment.

3. A confusing and baffling network, as of paths or passages; an intricacy; a labyrinth. "Quaint mazes on the wanton green." Shak.

Or down the tempting maze of Shawford brook.

Wordaworth.

The ways of Heaven are dark and intricate,
Puzzled with mazes , and perplexed with error.

Addison.

Syn. -- Labyrinth; intricacy. See Labyrinth .

Maze transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Mazed ; present participle & verbal noun Mazing .] To perplex greatly; to bewilder; to astonish and confuse; to amaze. South.

Maze intransitive verb To be bewildered. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Mazedness noun The condition of being mazed; confusion; astonishment. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Mazeful adjective Mazy. [ Obsolete] Sir P. Sidney.

Mazer noun [ Middle English maser , akin to OD. maser an excrescence on a maple tree, Old High German masar , German maser spot, Icelandic mösurr maple.] A large drinking bowl; -- originally made of maple. [ Obsolete]

Their brimful mazers to the feasting bring.

Drayton.

Mazily adverb In a mazy manner.

Maziness noun The state or quality of being mazy.

Mazological adjective Of or pertaining to mazology.

Mazologist noun One versed in mazology or mastology.

Mazology noun [ Greek ... the breast + -logy .] Same as Mastology .

Mazourka, Mazurka noun A Polish dance, or the music which accompanies it, usually in 3-4 or 3-8 measure, with a strong accent on the second beat.

Mazy adjective [ From Maze .] Perplexed with turns and windings; winding; intricate; confusing; perplexing; embarrassing; as, mazy error. Milton.

To range amid the mazy thicket.

Spenser.

To run the ring, and trace the mazy round.

Dryden.

Me pron. One. See Men , pron. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Me (mē) pers. pron. [ Anglo-Saxon mē , dat. & acc., mec , acc. only ; akin to Dutch mij , German mich , Icelandic & Goth. mik , Latin me , Greek me` , 'eme` , Sanskrit mā , mām . √187. Confer 2d Mine .] The person speaking, regarded as an object; myself; a pronoun of the first person used as the objective and dative case of the pronoum I; as, he struck me ; he gave me the money, or he gave the money to me ; he got me a hat, or he got a hat for me .

» In methinks , me is properly in the dative case, and the verb is impersonal, the construction being, it appears to me . In early use me was often placed before forms of the verb to be with an adjective; as, me were lief.

Me rather had my heart might frrl your love
Than my unpleased eye see your courtesy.

Shak.

Meach intransitive verb To skulk; to cower. See Mich .

Meacock noun [ Prob. from meek + cock .] An uxorious, effeminate, or spiritless man. [ Obsolete] Johnson.

Mead (mēd) noun [ Middle English mede , Anglo-Saxon meodo ; akin to Dutch mede , German met , meth , Old High German metu , mitu , Icelandic mjöðr , Danish miöd , Swedish mjöd , Russian med' , Lithuanian midus , W. medd , Greek me`qy wine, Sanskrit madhu honey, a sweet drink, as adj., sweet. √270. Confer Metheglin .]
1. A fermented drink made of water and honey with malt, yeast, etc.; metheglin; hydromel. Chaucer.

2. A drink composed of sirup of sarsaparilla or other flavoring extract, and water. It is sometimes charged with carbonic acid gas. [ U. S.]

Mead noun [ Anglo-Saxon mǣd . See Meadow .] A meadow.

A mede
All full of freshe flowers, white and reede.

Chaucer.

To fertile vales and dewy meads
My weary, wandering steps he leads.

Addison.

Meadow noun [ Anglo-Saxon meady ; akin to mǣd , and to German matte ; probably also to English mow . See Mow to cut (grass), and confer 2d Mead .]
1. A tract of low or level land producing grass which is mown for hay; any field on which grass is grown for hay.

2. Low land covered with coarse grass or rank herbage near rives and in marshy places by the sea; as, the salt meadows near Newark Bay.

Meadow adjective Of or pertaining to a meadow; of the nature of a meadow; produced, growing, or living in, a meadow. "Fat meadow ground." Milton.

» For many names of plants compounded with meadow , see the particular word in the Vocabulary.

Meadow beauty . (Botany) Same as Deergrass . -- Meadow foxtail (Botany) , a valuable pasture grass ( Alopecurus pratensis ) resembling timothy, but with softer spikes. -- Meadow grass (Botany) , a name given to several grasses of the genus Poa , common in meadows, and of great value for nay and for pasture. See Grass . -- Meadow hay , a coarse grass, or true sedge, growing in uncultivated swamp or river meadow; -- used as fodder or bedding for cattle, packing for ice, etc. [ Local, U. S.] -- Meadow hen . (Zoology) (a) The American bittern . See Stake-driver . (b) The American coot ( Fulica ). (c) The clapper rail. -- Meadow lark (Zoology) , any species of Sturnella , a genus of American birds allied to the starlings. The common species ( S. magna ) has a yellow breast with a black crescent. -- Meadow mouse (Zoology) , any mouse of the genus Arvicola , as the common American species A. riparia ; -- called also field mouse , and field vole . -- Meadow mussel (Zoology) , an American ribbed mussel ( Modiola plicatula ), very abundant in salt marshes. -- Meadow ore (Min.) , bog-iron ore , a kind of limonite. -- Meadow parsnip . (Botany) See under Parsnip . -- Meadow pink . (Botany) See under Pink . -- Meadow pipit (Zoology) , a small singing bird of the genus Anthus , as A. pratensis , of Europe. -- Meadow rue (Botany) , a delicate early plant, of the genus Thalictrum , having compound leaves and numerous white flowers. There are many species. -- Meadow saffron . (Botany) See under Saffron . -- Meadow sage . (Botany) See under Sage . -- Meadow saxifrage (Botany) , an umbelliferous plant of Europe ( Silaus pratensis ), somewhat resembling fennel. -- Meadow snipe (Zoology) , the common or jack snipe.

Meadowsweet, Meadowwort noun (Botany) The name of several plants of the genus Spiræa , especially the white- or pink-flowered S. salicifolia , a low European and American shrub, and the herbaceous S. Ulmaria , which has fragrant white flowers in compound cymes.

Meadowy adjective Of or pertaining to meadows; resembling, or consisting of, meadow.

Meager, Meagre adjective [ Middle English merge , French maigre , Latin macer ; akin to D. & German mager , Icelandic magr , and probably to Greek makro`s long. Confer Emaciate , Maigre .]

1. Destitue of, or having little, flesh; lean.

Meager were his looks;
Sharp misery had worn him to the bones.

Shak.

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. " Meager soil." Dryden.

Of secular habits and meager religious belief.

I. Taylor.

His education had been but meager .

Motley.

3. (Min.) Dry and harsh to the touch, as chalk.

Syn. -- Thin; lean; lank; gaunt; starved; hungry; poor; emaciated; scanty; barren.

Meager, Meagre transitive verb To make lean. [ Obsolete]

Meagerly, Meagrely adverb Poorly; thinly.

Meagerness, Meagreness noun The state or quality of being meager; leanness; scantiness; barrenness.

Meagre noun [ French maigre .] (Zoology) A large European sciænoid fish ( Sciæna umbra or S. aquila ), having white bloodless flesh. It is valued as a food fish. [ Written also maigre .]

Meak noun [ Confer Anglo-Saxon mēce sword, Old Saxon māki , Icelandic mækir .] A hook with a long handle. [ Obsolete] Tusser.

Meaking noun [ See Meak .] (Nautical) The process of picking out the oakum from the seams of a vessel which is to be recalked.

Meaking iron (Nautical) , the tool with which old oakum is picked out of a vessel's seams.

Meal (mēl) noun [ Middle English mele , Anglo-Saxon mǣl part, portion, portion of time; akin to English meal a repast. Confer Piecemeal .] A part; a fragment; a portion. [ Obsolete]

Meal noun [ Middle English mel ; akin to English meal a part, and to Dutch maal time, meal, German mal time, mahl meal, Icelandic māl measure, time, meal, Goth. mēl time, and to English measure . See Measure .] 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 .

What strange fish
Hath made his meal on thee ?

Shak.

Meal noun [ Middle English mele , Anglo-Saxon melu , melo ; akin to Dutch meel , German mehl , Old High German melo , Icelandic mjöl , SW. mjöl , Danish meel , also to Dutch malen to grind, German mahlen , Old High German , Old Saxon , & Goth. malan , Icelandic mala , W. malu , Latin molere , Greek my`lh mill, and English mill . √108. Confer Mill , Mold soil, Mole an animal, Immolate , Molar .]

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.

2. Any substance that is coarsely pulverized like meal, but not granulated.

Meal beetle (Zoology) , the adult of the meal worm. See Meal worm , below. -- Meal moth (Zoology) , a lepidopterous insect ( Asopia farinalis ), the larvæ of which feed upon meal, flour, etc. -- Meal worm (Zoology) , the larva of a beetle ( Tenebrio molitor ) which infests granaries, bakehouses, etc., and is very injurious to flour and meal.

Meal transitive verb
1. To sprinkle with, or as with, meal. Shak.

2. To pulverize; as, mealed powder.

Mealies noun plural [ From Mealy .] (Botany) Maize or Indian corn; -- the common name in South Africa.

Mealiness noun The quality or state of being mealy.