<B>megalopolis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a city of enormous size, especially when thought of as the center of power, wealth, or culture in a country or the world. <BR> <I>Ex. This grim vignette symbolizes the crushing weight of the modern industrial megalopolis (Atlantic).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a large metropolitan area, often including several cities with little or no intervening countryside. </DL>
<A NAME="megalopolitan">
<B>megalopolitan, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with a megalopolis. <BR> <I>Ex. megalopolitan jungles such as New York and Chicago (Harper's).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a person living in a megalopolis. </DL>
<A NAME="megalops">
<B>megalops, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the final larval stage of a crab, a small organism with large, stalked eyes that swims to the shore and digs a hole in the sand where it molts into a tiny crab. </DL>
<A NAME="megalosaur">
<B>megalosaur, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of an extinct group of gigantic terrestrial, carnivorous reptiles. </DL>
<A NAME="megalosaurian">
<B>megalosaurian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> having the characteristics of a megalosaur. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>=megalosaur.</B> </DL>
<B>megamachine, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a social system so dominated by technology that it resembles a gigantic machine which functions without regard for human needs and objectives. <BR> <I>Ex. What is needed to save mankind from the megamachine ... is to displace the mechanical world picture with an organic world picture, in the center of which stands man himself (Lewis Mumford).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="megaparsec">
<B>megaparsec, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a unit of distance, equivalent to one million parsecs. </DL>
<A NAME="megaphone">
<B>megaphone, </B>noun, verb, <B>-phoned,</B> <B>-phoning.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a large, funnel-shaped horn used to increase the loudness of the voice or the distance at which it can be heard. <BR> <I>Ex. The cheerleader at the football game yelled through a megaphone.</I> <DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to magnify or direct (sound) by means of a megaphone. <BR> <I>Ex. In desperation, Kendall megaphoned to the Storstad, "Go full speed astern!" (Maclean's).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to speak very loudly. </DL>
<A NAME="megaphonic">
<B>megaphonic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> increasing the loudness of sound or the distance at which it can be heard. <BR> <I>Ex. She had escaped even the microscopic research and the megaphonic talk of a small country place like Highwood (Mrs. Lynn Linton).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="megapod">
<B>megapod, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> having a large foot or feet. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>=megapode.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="megapode">
<B>megapode, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a family of large-footed, fowllike birds of Australia and Indonesia, that scratch up mounds, usually of decaying vegetation, in which they bury their eggs and leave them to hatch; moundbird; mound builder. </DL>
<A NAME="megarad">
<B>megarad, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a unit for measuring absorbed doses of radiation, equivalent to one million rads. </DL>
<A NAME="megaron">
<B>megaron, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the central room of an ancient Greek house, having a hearth and used as a kitchen and living room. </DL>
<B>megaseism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a great or severe earthquake. </DL>
<A NAME="megaseismic">
<B>megaseismic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with a severe earthquake. <DD><B> 2. </B>caused by a severe earthquake. </DL>
<A NAME="megasporangium">
<B>megasporangium, </B>noun, pl. <B>-gia.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a sporangium containing megaspores. <BR> <I>Ex. The megasporangium usually produces only four megaspores (Fred W. Emerson).</I> <DL COMPACT><DD> Also, <B>macrosporangium.</B> </DL>
</DL>
<A NAME="megaspore">
<B>megaspore, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an asexually produced spore of comparatively large size that gives rise to the female gametophyte in certain ferns. <DD><B> 2. </B>the embryo sac in seed plants. <BR> <I>Ex. Within the nucleus is found the embryo sac or megaspore (Heber W. Youngken).</I> <DD> Also, <B>macrospore.</B> </DL>
<B>megass</B> or <B>megasse, </B>noun. <B>=bagasse.</B></DL>
<A NAME="megastore">
<B>megastore, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a very large store that sells goods in the manner of a supermarket. <BR> <I>Ex. The protests have grown in proportion to the relentless expansionary march of behemoth retailers. Hundreds of new megastores are opening annually (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="megastructure">
<B>megastructure, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a very large building. <BR> <I>Ex. Arcology ... is a total planned environment--dwellings, factories, utilities, cultural centers--within a single megastructure 1-2 miles wide and up to 300 stories high (Estie Stoll).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="megatechnics">
<B>megatechnics, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> large-scale technology. <BR> <I>Ex. Under the impulsion of unprecedented "megatechnics"--"nuclear energy, supersonic transportation, cybernetic intelligence, and instantaneous distant communication"--the farflung settlement patterns of Megalopolis are resistlessly expanding in many parts of the world, transforming man and the earth (Allan Temko).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="megathere">
<B>megathere, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of an extinct group of huge, plant-eating mammals of the Pleistocene, resembling the sloths, the fossil remains of which have been found in South America. </DL>
<A NAME="megatherium">
<B>megatherium, </B>noun. <B>=megathere.</B></DL>
<A NAME="megaton">
<B>megaton, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a measure of atomic power equivalent to the energy released by one million tons of high explosive, specifically TNT. <BR> <I>Ex. Most estimates suggest that each megaton of dirty bomb would cause a few thousand deaths from leukaemia (Manchester Guardian).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a measure of weight equal to one million tons. </DL>
<A NAME="megatonnage">
<B>megatonnage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the total amount of atomic power in megatons. </DL>
<A NAME="megavar">
<B>megavar, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a unit of electric power equivalent to one million volt-amperes. </DL>
<A NAME="megaversity">
<B>megaversity, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a very large university, with an enrollment of many thousands of students. </DL>
<A NAME="megavitamin">
<B>megavitamin, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or based on the use of very large doses of vitamins to control disease. <BR> <I>Ex. megavitamin therapy.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="megavolt">
<B>megavolt, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a unit of electromotive force equivalent to one million volts. </DL>
<A NAME="megawatt">
<B>megawatt, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a million watts; thousand kilowatts. </DL>
<A NAME="megeneration">
<B>me generation,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the generation of the me decade. <BR> <I>Ex. Quick-fix therapies ... , observers complained, typified the me generation's insistence on magical solutions and gratification (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="megillah">
<B>megillah, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Slang.) a long story or account. <BR> <I>Ex. I talked the whole megillah over with Cassius and he reckons you'd be a better draw (Punch).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="megillot">
<B>Megillot, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Judaism.) the five books of the Hagiographa consisting of the Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, read in the synagogue on certain festivals. </DL>
<A NAME="megilp">
<B>megilp, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a jellylike preparation (consisting usually of a mixture of linseed oil with turpentine or mastic varnish) used by artists as a vehicle for oil colors. Also, <B>magilp.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="megimide">
<B>Megimide, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Trademark.) a drug that counteracts the influence of barbiturates, used in treating persons who have taken an overdose of sleeping pills. <BR> <I>Ex. Megimide ... brings sleeping-pill victims out of dangerous comas in a few minutes (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="megohm">
<B>megohm, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a unit of electrical resistance, equivalent to one million ohms. </DL>
<A NAME="megohmmeter">
<B>megohmmeter, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an instrument for measuring the electrical resistance of a conductor in megohms. </DL>
<A NAME="megrim">
<B>megrim</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B><B>=migraine.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a passing fancy; whim; caprice. <BR> <I>Ex. It was a pity she should take such megrims into her head (George Eliot). The hamlet ... has no patience with urban megrims (J. W. R. Scott).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>megrims,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>morbid low spirits; attack of the blues. </I> <I>Ex. suffering from a mountainous attack of the mental megrims (John Moyes).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the staggers in animals. <BR> <I>Ex. The poor mare was suddenly seized with megrims (Peter Hawker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="megrim">
<B>megrim</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a kind of European flounder with large scales. </DL>
<A NAME="meiji">
<B>Meiji, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the reign (1867-1912) of Emperor Mutsuhito of Japan. <BR> <I>Ex. There was some attempt at systematic development in the Meiji era (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="meinie">
<B>meinie</B> or <B>meiny, </B>noun, pl. <B>meinies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Scottish.) a great number; multitude. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) a body of feudal dependents or retainers; retinue; train. <BR> <I>Ex. They summon'd up their meiny, straight took horse (Shakespeare).</I> </DL>
