<B>melodrama, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a sensational drama with exaggerated appeal to the emotions and, usually, a happy ending. <BR> <I>Ex. Most mystery shows are melodramas. It is the custom on the stage, in all good murderous melodramas to present the tragic and the comic scenes, in ... regular alternation (Dickens).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>any sensational writing, speech, or action with exaggerated appeal to the emotions. <BR> <I>Ex. If you can identify the murderer in Agatha Christie's melodrama, you probably belong on the police force yourself (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(in the late 1700's and early 1800's) a romantic stage play with music interspersed. </DL>
<A NAME="melodramatic">
<B>melodramatic, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of, like, or suitable for melodrama; sensational and exaggerated. <BR> <I>Ex. His soldiers, who, save for a few rare melodramatic encounters, saw nothing of him, idolized their "Little Corporal" (H. G. Wells).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>melodramatics,</B> melodramatic actions. <BR> <I>Ex. Her tears and other melodramatics did not keep her father from saying "no."</I> adv. <B>melodramatically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="melodramatist">
<B>melodramatist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a writer of melodrama. </DL>
<A NAME="melodramatize">
<B>melodramatize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-tized,</B> <B>-tizing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to make into a melodrama. <DD><B> 2. </B>to make melodramatic. </DL>
<A NAME="melody">
<B>melody, </B>noun, pl. <B>-dies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>sweet music; any sweet sound. <BR> <I>Ex. The birds chant melody on every bush (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>musical quality. <BR> <I>Ex. the melody of a voice, the melody of verse.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a succession of single tones in music; tune. Most music has melody, harmony, and rhythm. <BR> <I>Ex. She sang some sweet old melodies.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>the main tune in music with harmony; air. (SYN) theme. <DD><B> 5. </B>a poem suitable for singing. <BR> <I>Ex. Thomas Moore's "Irish Melodies."</I> </DL>
<A NAME="meloid">
<B>meloid, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> any beetle of a family that includes the blister beetles. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or like these beetles. </DL>
<A NAME="melolonthine">
<B>melolonthine, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with a subfamily of beetles, including the June bugs and chafers. <DD><I>noun </I> a melolonthine beetle. </DL>
<A NAME="melomane">
<B>melomane, </B>noun. <B>=melomaniac.</B></DL>
<A NAME="melomania">
<B>melomania, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a mania for music. </DL>
<A NAME="melomaniac">
<B>melomaniac, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who has a mania for music. </DL>
<A NAME="melon">
<B>melon, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the large, juicy fruit of a vine much like the pumpkin, squash, and cucumber. It belongs to the gourd family. Watermelons and muskmelons are different kinds. <DD><B> 2. </B>a deep-pink color. <DD><B> 3. </B>a round mass of blubber at the top of the head of certain cetaceans, such as the dolphin. <DD><B> 4. </B>(U.S. Slang.) a sum of money representing an excess of profits, political or criminal loot, or other monetary gain, for sharing by the owners of or the participants in an enterprise. <BR><I>expr. <B>cut</B> (or <B>split</B>) <B>a melon,</B> </I>(U.S. Slang.) to divide extra profits among those considered to have a claim on them. <BR> <I>Ex. The corporation cut a melon for its stockholders at the end of the year.</I> adj. <B>melonlike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="melonaphid">
<B>melon aphid,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an aphid that attacks cucumber and cotton plants and spreads mosaic disease. </DL>
<A NAME="melonfly">
<B>melon fly,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a fly whose larvae bore into melons, cucumbers, and tomatoes, related to the fruit fly. </DL>
<A NAME="melonshell">
<B>melon shell,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the shell of a marine gastropod, such as the bailer, so called from the shape. </DL>
<A NAME="meloplasty">
<B>meloplasty, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> plastic surgery of the cheek. </DL>
<A NAME="melos">
<B>melos, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Music.) melody. <BR> <I>Ex. The singer repeated endlessly a short phrase of melos (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="meloxine">
<B>Meloxine, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Trademark.) a drug which increases the resistance of the skin to sunburn, taken orally in pill form; methoxsalen. </DL>
<A NAME="melpomene">
<B>Melpomene, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Greek Mythology.) the Muse of tragedy. </DL>
<A NAME="melt">
<B>melt, </B>verb, <B>melted,</B> <B>melted</B> or <B>molten,</B> <B>melting,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to change from a solid to a liquid by applying heat. <BR> <I>Ex. to melt ice or butter. Great heat melts iron.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to dissolve. <BR> <I>Ex. to melt sugar in water.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to cause to disappear gradually; disperse. <BR> <I>Ex. The noon sun will melt away the fog. These our actors ... were all spirits, and Are melted into air (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) to change very gradually; blend; merge. <BR> <I>Ex. Dusk melted the colors of the hill into a soft gray.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) to make tender or gentle; soften. <BR> <I>Ex. Pity melted her heart.</I> (SYN) mollify. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to be changed from a solid to a liquid by applying heat. <BR> <I>Ex. The ice on the sidewalks had melted in the sunshine.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to dissolve; appear to disintegrate. <BR> <I>Ex. Sugar melts in water.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to disappear gradually; vanish; disappear. <BR> <I>Ex. The clouds melted away, and the sun came out. The crowd melted away.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) to waste away; dwindle. <BR> <I>Ex. His wealth melted away.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) to change very gradually; blend; merge. <BR> <I>Ex. In the rainbow, the green melts into blue, the blue into violet.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) to become softened; be made gentle; soften. <BR> <I>Ex. I had a good deal melted towards our enemy (Robert Louis Stevenson).</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>to suffer from the heat. <BR> <I>Ex. You will melt if you sit so close to the fire.</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>(Obsolete.) to be overwhelmed by grief. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the act or process of melting. <DD><B> 2. </B>the state of being melted. <DD><B> 3. </B>a melted metal. <DD><B> 4. </B>a quantity of metal melted at one operation or over a specified period, especially a single charge in smelting. <BR> <I>Ex. A number of melters using both pig iron and scrap have begun to use more pig iron in their melt (Baltimore Sun).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>the spleen; milt. noun <B>melter.</B> adv. <B>meltingly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="meltability">
<B>meltability, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the capacity of being melted. </DL>
<A NAME="meltable">
<B>meltable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be melted. </DL>
<A NAME="meltdown">
<B>meltdown, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a condition in which the radioactive fuel of a nuclear reactor melts through its insulation and is released because of a breakdown of its cooling system. <BR> <I>Ex. If there were to be a meltdown, the release of radioactivity would be retarded by the very strong reactor vessel (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="meltemi">
<B>meltemi, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the northerly summer wind in the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea. </DL>
<A NAME="meltingpoint">
<B>melting point,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the temperature at which a solid substance melts, especially under a pressure of one atmosphere; fusing point. Different substances have different melting points. Tungsten has the highest melting point of all metallic elements. (Abbr:) m.p. </DL>
<A NAME="meltingpot">
<B>melting pot,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a country or city thought of as a place in which various races or sorts of people are assimilated. <BR> <I>Ex. America is the New World, where there are no races andnations any more; She is the melting pot, from which we will cast the better state (H. G. Wells).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a pot in which metals or other substances are melted; crucible. </DL>
<A NAME="melton">
<B>melton, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a smooth, heavy woolen cloth, used especially for overcoats. <BR> <I>Ex. Melton is generally made dark and plain in color (Bernice G. Chambers).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="meltwater">
<B>meltwater, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> water formed from melting ice or snow, especially from a glacier. <BR> <I>Ex. A valley glacier ... is far wider and thicker than the corresponding stream of meltwater (Science News).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="melungeon">
<B>Melungeon, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a group of people living especially in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Tennessee, who are of a mixed white, black, and American Indian ancestry. </DL>
<A NAME="mem">
<B>mem</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the thirteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. </DL>
<B>mem.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an abbreviation for the following: <DD><B> 1. </B>member. <DD><B> 2. </B>memoir. <DD><B> 3. </B>memorandum. <DD><B> 4. </B>memorial. </DL>
<A NAME="member">
<B>member, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person, animal, or thing belonging to a group. <BR> <I>Ex. Every member of the family came home for Mother's Day. Our church has over five hundred members. The lion is a member of the cat family.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a part or organ of a plant, animal, or human body, especially a leg, arm, wing, or branch. <DD><B> 3. </B>a constituent part of a whole. <BR> <I>Ex. a member of a logical proposition.</I> (SYN) component. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Mathematics.) <DD><B> a. </B>a quantity that belongs to a set; element of a set. <DD><B> b. </B>the expression on either side of an equation. <DD><B> 5. </B>a rafter, column, or other structural unit of a building. <DD><B> 6. </B>a person elected to participate in the proceedings of a legislative body (used especially as a form of direct address by a colleague): <DD><B> a. </B>(U.S.) a member of the Congress of the United States, especially of the House of Representatives. <DD><B> b. </B>(British.) a member of the House of Commons. adj. <B>memberless.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="membered">
<B>-membered,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (combining form.) having ______ members. <BR> <I>Ex. Many-membered = having many members.</I> </DL>
