Search the Dictionary

he mind, as a purpose, intention, etc.; to intend; to purpose; to design; as, what do you mean to do What mean ye by this service Ex. xii. 26. Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good. Gen. 1. 20. I am not a Spaniard To say that it is yours and not to mean it. Longfellow.

Of a mean spirit; base; groveling. -- Mean"-spir`it*ed*ness, n.

A winding, crooked, or involved course; as, the meanders of the veins and arteries. Sir M. Hale. While lingering rivers in meanders glide. Sir R. Blackmore.

Winding; having many turns.

A genus of corals with meandering grooves and ridges, including the brain corals.

Winding; flexuous.

That which is meant or intended; intent; purpose; aim; object; as, a mischievous meaning was apparent. If there be any good meaning towards you. Shak.

Moderately. [Obs.] A man meanly learned himself, but not meanly affectioned to set forward learning in others. Ascham.

The condition, or quality, of being mean; want of excellence; poorness; lowness; baseness; sordidness; stinginess. This figure is of a later date, by the meanness of the workmanship. Addison.

of Mean.

The intervening time; as, in the meantime (or mean time).

Of or pertaining to the Syrians and Chaldeans, or to their language; Aramaic. -- n.

To make mean; to lower. C. Reade.

was said to have introduced into Greece the sixteen simple letters of the alphabet -- Cadmean letters. Cadmean victory, a victory that damages the victors as much as the vanquished; probably referring to the battle in which the soldiers who sprang from the dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus slew each other.…

To manage; to conduct; to treat. [Our] clergy have with violence demeaned the matter. Milton.

Demeanor. [Obs.] Skelton.

reatment; conduct. [Obs.] God commits the managing so great a trust . . . wholly to the demeanor of every grown man. Milton.

Behavior. [Obs.] Spenser.

Intended beforehand; premeditated. [Obs.] Spenser.

Of or pertaining to ancient Idumea, or Edom, in Western Asia. -- n.