<B>maunder, </B>intransitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to talk in a rambling, foolish way. <BR> <I>Ex. People who maunder talk much but say little.</I> (SYN) drivel. <DD><B> 2. </B>to move or act in an aimless or confused manner. <BR> <I>Ex. The injured man maundered about in a daze. The drunken man maundered along the street.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) to grumble; mutter. noun <B>maunderer.</B> adv. <B>maunderingly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="maunderminimum">
<B>Maunder minimum,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a period of irregular solar activity between about 1645 and 1715, characterized especially by the virtual absence of sunspots. </DL>
<A NAME="maundy">
<B>maundy, </B>noun, pl. <B>-dies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an old ceremony of washing the feet of a number of poor people to commemorate the Last Supper and Christ's washing the feet of His disciples, performed as a religious rite, as by a sovereign or an ecclesiastic, on the Thursday before Good Friday (in the Bible, John 13:5, 14, 34). <DD><B> 2. </B>alms distributed at the ceremony or on this day. </DL>
<A NAME="maundy">
<B>Maundy, </B>noun, pl. <B>-dies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the celebration of Maundy Thursday, in which the feet of the poor are washed and Maundy money given out. </DL>
<A NAME="maundythursday">
<B>Maundy Thursday,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the Thursday before Easter. </DL>
<B>Mauritanian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with Mauritania, a republic in West Africa. <DD><I>noun </I> a native or inhabitant of Mauritania. </DL>
<A NAME="mauritian">
<B>Mauritian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with Mauritius, an island country in the Indian Ocean. <DD><I>noun </I> a native or inhabitant of Mauritius. </DL>
<A NAME="mauritianhemp">
<B>Mauritian hemp,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a plant of the amaryllis family grown in Mauritius, that yields a tough fiber used to make heavy cord and coarse cloth. <DD><B> 2. </B>the fibers of this plant. </DL>
<A NAME="maurya">
<B>Maurya, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a member of the ancient Indian people who established an empire in northern India from about 321 B.C. to 184 B.C. </DL>
<A NAME="mauryan">
<B>Mauryan, </B>adj.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with the Mauryas or their civilization. </DL>
<A NAME="mauser">
<B>Mauser, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Trademark.) a powerful repeating rifle or pistol. </DL>
<A NAME="mausolean">
<B>mausolean, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with a mausoleum; monumental. </DL>
<A NAME="mausoleum">
<B>Mausoleum, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a magnificent tomb in southwest Asia Minor, at Halicarnassus, built in the 300's B.C. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. </DL>
<A NAME="mausoleum">
<B>mausoleum, </B>noun, pl. <B>-leums,</B> <B>-lea.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a large, magnificent tomb, especially one above ground. <BR> <I>Ex. a ponderous mausoleum with a front wall of reinforced concrete (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) any large structure, building, or room similar to the Mausoleum. </DL>
<A NAME="mauvaisehonte">
<B>mauvaise honte,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) excessive modesty or shame; bashfulness. </DL>
<A NAME="mauve">
<B>mauve, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> delicate pale-purple. (SYN) violet, lilac, lavender. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a delicate, pale purple. <DD><B> 2. </B>a purple dye obtained from coal tar chemicals or aniline. <BR> <I>Ex. The beautiful purple dye mauve, synthesized by Perkin in 1856, was not found in animal and plant material (Atlantic).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mauveine">
<B>mauveine, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the dye mauve or its color. <BR> <I>Ex. mauveine, the first synthetic organic dye (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="maverick">
<B>maverick, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> (U.S.) <B>1. </B>a calf or other animal not marked with an owner's brand. A maverick on the open range formerly became the property of anyone who branded him. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) <DD><B> a. </B>a person who refuses to affiliate or who breaks with a regular political party. <BR> <I>Ex. A maverick tried unsuccessfully to unseat Mayor Edward Kelly (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>any person or organization which is unconventional in its actions. <BR> <I>Ex. All around town, there are entrancing mavericks that may have no great significance and follow no trend (New Yorker).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> unconventional; refusing to be bound by normal procedures. <BR> <I>Ex. For years these maverick merchants have flourished by following a simple formula (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mavin">
<B>mavin</B> or <B>maven, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) an expert or connoisseur. </DL>
<B>mavourneen</B> or <B>mavournin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Irish.) my darling. </DL>
<A NAME="maw">
<B>maw, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the mouth, throat, or gullet, especially of a meat-eating animal, as concerned in devouring. <BR> <I>Ex. a lion's maw.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative:) <BR> <I>Ex. Nations continue to pour wealth into the maw of war.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B><B>=stomach.</B> (SYN) craw. <DD><B> 4. </B>the crop of a bird. </DL>
<A NAME="mawkin">
<B>mawkin, </B>noun. <B>=malkin.</B></DL>
<A NAME="mawkish">
<B>mawkish, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>sickly sentimental; weakly emotional. <BR> <I>Ex. The portrait of Lady Mendl is sharp without being unkind and sentimental without being mawkish (Harper's).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>sickening; nauseating. <BR> <I>Ex. If I would drink water, I must quaff the mawkish contents of an open aqueduct (Tobias Smollett).</I> adv. <B>mawkishly.</B> noun <B>mawkishness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="max">
<B>max, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Informal.) <DD><I>noun </I> the greatest possible amount; maximum. <BR> <I>Ex. The policemen around the Mall call the overtime limit "the max" (Blaine Harden). A ... new single from southern California has been riding the airways to the max (Newsweek).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> Usually, <B>max out.</B> to reach a maximum. <BR> <I>Ex. "They're just about maxing out on the covers"--industry jargon meaning that the restaurant is feeding people as fast as it can (New York Times).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to perform or execute to one's maximum capacity. <BR> <I>Ex. [He] has just finished maxing the push-up test at 68 (Washington Post).</I> </DL>
<B>maxi, </B>noun, pl. <B>maxis,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a skirt, dress, or coat reaching to the ankle or just above it; maxiskirt, maxidress, or maxicoat. <DD><B> 2. </B>the ankle-length style of fashion. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>reaching to the ankle or just above it; ankle-length. <BR> <I>Ex. Teen-agers and college girls rushed for maxi coats (Ruth Mary DuBois).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>larger or longer than usual. <BR> <I>Ex. In the Dublin suburbs there is a minicar in nearly every garage, and downtown the traffic jams are becoming very maxi (Saturday Review).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="maxi">
<B>maxi-,</B> prefix.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>reaching down to the ankle; long, as in <I>maxicoat, maxidress, maxilength.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>very large, as in <I>maxi-order.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="maxilla">
<B>maxilla, </B>noun, pl. <B>maxillae,</B> <B>maxillas.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the jaw or jawbone, especially the upper jawbone. <DD><B> 2. </B>either of the pair of appendages behind the mandibles of insects or crabs and other crustaceans. </DL>
<A NAME="maxillary">
<B>maxillary, </B>adjective, noun, pl. <B>-laries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with the jaw or jawbone, especially the upper jawbone. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>=maxilla.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="maxilliped">
<B>maxilliped, </B>noun. <B>=foot jaw.</B></DL>
<A NAME="maxillofacial">
<B>maxillofacial, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with the lower half of the face. <BR> <I>Ex. maxillofacial prosthetics.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="maxim">
<B>maxim, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a short rule of conduct; proverb. <BR> <I>Ex. "A stitch in time saves nine" and "Look before you leap" are maxims. That maxim of the heathen, "Enjoy the present, trust nothing to the future" (Cardinal Newman). My maxim is to obey orders (James Fenimore Cooper).</I> (SYN) adage. <DD><B> 2. </B>a statement expressing some general truth. <BR> <I>Ex. The trite maxim that every Englishman's house is his castle (William E. H. Lecky).</I> (SYN) aphorism, apothegm. </DL>
<A NAME="maxima">
<B>maxima, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> maximums; a plural of <B>maximum.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="maximal">
<B>maximal, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or being a maximum; greatest possible; highest. <BR> <I>Ex. an insistence on maximal loyalty.</I> adv. <B>maximally.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="maximalism">
<B>Maximalism</B> or <B>maximalism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the doctrines, methods, or procedure of Maximalists or maximalists. </DL>
<A NAME="maximalist">
<B>maximalist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who seeks to obtain the whole or maximum goal, advantage, profit, etc., rather than a small part of it. <BR> <I>Ex. The maximalists want to keep their much higher prices (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="maximalist">
<B>Maximalist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a member of the radical section of the Social Revolutionary Party in Russia about 1903. <DD><B> 2. </B>a radical section or a radical in any party. </DL>
<B>Maxim gun,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a type of water-cooled machine gun, in which the bolt is operated by the recoil. </DL>
<A NAME="maximin">
<B>maximin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> that strategy in the theory of games which provides the maximum of a player's minimum possible gains (contrasted with <I>minimax</I>). <BR> <I>Ex. Maximin is like a philosophy of complete pessimism except that the decision is based on the decision-maker's possible payoffs rather than losses (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
