<B>MAR, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> multifunction array radar (a system using electronic switching instead of mechanical rotation to scan the horizon, designed especially for operation at antiballistic missile sites). </DL>
<B>mara, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a large South American rodent having long ears and long, thin legs; Patagonian cavy or hare. </DL>
<A NAME="mara">
<B>Mara, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the devil who tempted Gautama Buddha, according to the early Buddhists. </DL>
<A NAME="marabou">
<B>marabou</B> or <B>marabout</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of several varieties of large, white-bodied storks of Africa and Asia; adjutant. <DD><B> 2. </B>a furlike trimming made from its soft, white, downy feathers, used especially on women's hats, dresses, and boas. <DD><B> 3a. </B>a silk that is nearly pure-white in the raw state. <DD><B> b. </B>a delicate cloth made from it. </DL>
<A NAME="marabout">
<B>marabout</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a Moslem holy man or ascetic of northern Africa. <DD><B> 2. </B>the tomb of such a holy man, serving as a shrine. </DL>
<A NAME="maraca">
<B>maraca, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a percussion instrument, consisting of seeds, pebbles, or lead shot enclosed in a dry ground or gourd-shaped body and shaken like a rattle. Maracas are usually played in pairs. </DL>
<A NAME="marae">
<B>marae, </B>noun, pl. <B>-rae</B> or <B>-raes.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a temple, altar, or sacred enclosure at which Polynesians worship. <DD><B> 2. </B>an enclosed space or yard in front of a Maori house. </DL>
<A NAME="maragingsteel">
<B>maraging steel,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a very strong, corrosion-resistant, low-carbon alloy of iron, chromium, nickel, titanium, silicon, and manganese, used in spacecraft parts. </DL>
<A NAME="marah">
<B>Marah, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the place where the Israelites in their wanderings found only bitter water (in the Bible, Exodus 15:23). <DD><B> 2. </B>(in the Bible) a well or stream of bitter water. </DL>
<A NAME="marah">
<B>marah, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> bitter water; bitterness. <BR> <I>Ex. The wasting famine of the heart they fed, And slaked its thirst with marah of their tears (Longfellow).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="maranao">
<B>Maranao, </B>noun, pl. <B>-nao</B> or <B>-naos.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a member of a Malay people of Mindanao, in the Philippines, and of northern Borneo (Sabah). <DD><B> 2. </B>the Austronesian language of this people. </DL>
<A NAME="maranatha">
<B>maranatha, </B>noun. =anathema.</DL>
<A NAME="maranta">
<B>maranta, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various tropical herbs commonly grown under glass for their showy foliage; arrowroot. </DL>
<A NAME="marantaceous">
<B>marantaceous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> belonging to the family of plants typified by the arrowroot. </DL>
<A NAME="marantic">
<B>marantic, </B>adjective. =marasmic.</DL>
<A NAME="marasca">
<B>marasca, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a small black cherry whose sour fruit is the source of maraschino. </DL>
<A NAME="maraschino">
<B>maraschino, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a strong liqueur made from the fermented juice of a small, bitter black cherry. </DL>
<A NAME="maraschinocherry">
<B>maraschino cherry,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a cherry preserved in a sweet syrup. It is used to decorate and to add flavor to drinks and desserts. </DL>
<A NAME="marasmic">
<B>marasmic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with marasmus. </DL>
<A NAME="marasmus">
<B>marasmus, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a wasting away of the body, especially due to malnutrition or old age, rather than disease. </DL>
<A NAME="maratha">
<B>Maratha, </B>noun. =Mahratta.</DL>
<A NAME="marathi">
<B>Marathi, </B>noun. =Mahratti.</DL>
<A NAME="marathon">
<B>Marathon, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a plain in Greece about 25 miles northeast of Athens. After the Athenians defeated the Persians there in 490 B.C., a runner ran all the way to Athens with the news of the victory. </DL>
<A NAME="marathon">
<B>marathon, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a foot race of 26 miles, 385 yards. It was introduced in 1896 with the revival of the Olympic Games, in memory of the runner who carried the news to Athens that the Athenians had defeated the Persians in the battle of Marathon (490 B.C.). <DD><B> 2. </B>any race over a long distance. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) any activity that calls for endurance. <BR> <I>Ex. The litigation ... turned out to be a marathon affair (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="marathonian">
<B>Marathonian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with Marathon or the battle of Marathon. <DD><I>noun </I> a native of Marathon. </DL>
<A NAME="maraud">
<B>maraud, </B>verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> to go about in search of plunder. <BR> <I>Ex. The Saxon stern, the pagan Dane, Maraud on Britain's shores again (Scott).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to make raids on for booty; plunder. <DD><I>noun </I> a marauding expedition; raid. </DL>
<A NAME="marauder">
<B>marauder, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person or animal that goes about in search of plunder. <BR> <I>Ex. Tigers and leopards are night marauders of the jungle.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="marauding">
<B>marauding, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> going about in search of plunder; making raids for booty. <BR> <I>Ex. The marauding pirates blocked the harbor and attacked the city.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="maravedi">
<B>maravedi, </B>noun, pl. <B>-dis.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a gold coin used by the Moors in Spain during the 1000's and 1100's. <DD><B> 2. </B>a former Spanish copper coin. </DL>
<A NAME="marble">
<B>marble, </B>noun, adjective, verb, <B>-bled,</B> <B>-bling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a hard limestone, white or colored, that can take a beautiful polish. Marble lasts as long as granite and is much softer to work. Marble is much used for statues and in buildings. <DD><B> 2. </B>a piece, block, or slab of marble, especially one that has been cut or shaped by man. <DD><B> 3. </B>a small ball of clay, glass, stone or steel, used in games. <DD><B> 4. </B>a pattern or color that looks like marble. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) something as cold and hard as marble. <BR> <I>Ex. a heart of marble.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>made of marble. <BR> <I>Ex. a marble vase.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) like marble; white, hard, cold, or unfeeling. <BR> <I>Ex. a marble heart.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>having a pattern like marble; mottled. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to color in imitation of the patterns in marble. <BR> <I>Ex. Binders marble the edges of some books. The horizon bounded by a propitious sky, azure, marbled with pearly white (Charlotte Bronte).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>marbles,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>a game played with small, usually colored balls. Each player uses a larger marble to knock the smaller marbles out of a ring. </I> <I>Ex. There was the floor on which ... I had played at marbles (R. Chambers).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a collection of sculptures. <BR> <I>Ex. the Elgin Marbles.</I> <DD><B> c. </B>(Slang.) common sense; reason. <BR> <I>Ex. I think he's lost his marbles.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>pick up one's marbles,</B> </I>(Informal.) to give up; quit. <BR> <I>Ex. He hoped the committee [Citizens Committee for Children] would not "just pick up its marbles and thus penalize the children of New York" (New York Times).</I> adj. <B>marblelike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="marblebones">
<B>marble bones,</B> =osteopetrosis.</DL>
<A NAME="marblecake">
<B>marble cake,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a cake with streaks of dark and light, made by filling the pan with alternate spoonfuls of dark and light batter. </DL>
<A NAME="marbled">
<B>marbled, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>decorated or covered with marble. <BR> <I>Ex. a marbled column.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>having a pattern like marble; mottled; dappled. <BR> <I>Ex. a marbled duck, a marbled cat.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>having small flecks of fat throughout the lean. <BR> <I>Ex. finely marbled meat, a well-marbled roast of beef.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="marbledgodwit">
<B>marbled godwit,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a large brownish shore bird with an upturned bill that nests in central North America. </DL>
<A NAME="marbleize">
<B>marbleize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to make like marble in pattern, grain, or color. </DL>
<A NAME="marbling">
<B>marbling, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a coloring, graining, or marking that suggests marble. <BR> <I>Ex. beefsteak with a marbling of fat.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a pattern of coloring, graining, or marking on book edges or bindings in imitation of the patterns of marble. <DD><B> 3. </B>the staining of paper with colors in imitation of marble. </DL>
<A NAME="marbly">
<B>marbly, </B>adjective, <B>-blier,</B> <B>-bliest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> like marble. </DL>
<A NAME="marburgdisease">
<B>Marburg disease,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a contagious, often fatal, virus disease characterized by high fever and hemorrhaging. It was discovered in Marburg, Germany among technicians handling green monkeys. <BR> <I>Ex. A new virus related to the socalled Marburg, or green monkey, disease spread in Sudan and Zaire (Richard H. Pfaff).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="marburgvirus">
<B>Marburg virus,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a thread virus that causes Marburg disease. </DL>
<A NAME="marc">
<B>marc, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the refuse that remains after pressing grapes or other fruits. <BR> <I>Ex. Wine made by pressing the marc or refuse that remains after all the sound grape juice has been squeezed from the grapes (London Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>brandy derived from this. <BR> <I>Ex. France's alcoholism consists mostly of excess wine drinking ... with some help from spirits like marc, Calvados, cognac (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the residue that remains, as after extracting oil or the like, from plants, seeds, or nuts by means of a solvent. </DL>
<A NAME="marc">
<B>MARC, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a computerized system for cataloging bibliographical data on magnetic tapes for use by libraries. </DL>
<A NAME="marcasite">
<B>marcasite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a whitish-yellow mineral with a metallic luster, a native iron disulfide, similar to and of the same composition as ordinary pyrite; white iron pyrites. <DD><B> 2. </B>any crystallized iron pyrites used in the 1700's for ornaments. <DD><B> 3. </B>a crystallized piece cut and polished as an ornament. <BR> <I>Ex. Marcasites are among the staple stones of costume jewelry (London Times).</I> </DL>
