<B>mercy, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>more kindness than justice requires; kindness beyond what can be claimed or expected. <BR> <I>Ex. The judge showed mercy to the young offender.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>kindly treatment; pity. <BR> <I>Ex. deeds of mercy.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>something to be thankful for; blessing. <BR> <I>Ex. We thank the Lord for all His mercies. It's a mercy that you weren't injured in the accident. I say that we are wound with mercy round and round As if with air (Gerard Manley Hopkins).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>at the mercy of,</B> </I>in the power of. <BR> <I>Ex. at the mercy of the elements. The poor lunatic ... was at the mercy of his servants, who robbed, laughed at, and neglected him (Frederick Marryat).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mercykiller">
<B>mercy killer,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a person who commits a mercy killing. <BR> <I>Ex. Judges and juries across the country have been remarkably lenient on family members who become mercy killers (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mercykilling">
<B>mercy killing,</B> <B>=euthanasia.</B> <I>Ex. A doctor has no right to speed a patient's end by euthanasia, or "mercy killing," no matter how hopeless his condition (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mercyseat">
<B>mercy seat,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a cover of gold above the Ark of the Covenant in the ancient Hebrew temple, with cherubim at either end, regarded as the place of God's presence and on which the high priest sprinkled the blood of the sin offering (in the Bible, Exodus 25; Leviticus 16). <DD><B> 2. </B>the throne of God in heaven. </DL>
<B>mere</B> (1), adjective, superl. <B>merest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>nothing else than; simple; only. <BR> <I>Ex. The cut was the merest scratch. The mere sight of a dog makes him afraid. Even when a mere child I began my travels (Washington Irving).</I> (SYN) bare, sheer. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Law.) done, performed, or exercised by a person or the persons specified, without any influence or help. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) pure; unmixed. <BR> <I>Ex. mere wine.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mere">
<B>mere</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaic.) a lake or pond. <BR> <I>Ex. lonely mountain-meres (Tennyson).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mere">
<B>mere</B> (3), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaic.) a boundary. </DL>
<B>-mere,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (combining form.) part; division; segment, as in <I>metamere.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="merely">
<B>merely, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>and nothing more; and that is all; simply; only. <BR> <I>Ex. merely as a matter of form. The multitudes Who read merely for the sake of talking (Joseph Butler).</I> (SYN) solely. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) without admixture; purely. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) absolutely. </DL>
<A NAME="merengue">
<B>merengue, </B>noun, verb, <B>-gued,</B> <B>-guing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a fast, gay dance of the West Indies, especially the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where it originated. Its main characteristic is a limping side step. <BR> <I>Ex. The merengue corresponds to the rumba of Cuba or samba of Brazil (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>music for such a dance. <BR> <I>Ex. The band played a merengue.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to dance the merengue. </DL>
<A NAME="meretricious">
<B>meretricious, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>attractive in a showy way; alluring by false charms. <BR> <I>Ex. A wooden building painted to look like marble is meretricious. There is nothing showy or meretricious about the man (William Dean Howells). The actual broadcasts have also combined the sublime and the ridiculous, the serious and the meretricious, in the kind of melange ... found to be commercially profitable (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>having to do with or characteristic of a prostitute. adv. <B>meretriciously.</B> noun <B>meretriciousness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="merganser">
<B>merganser, </B>noun, pl. <B>-sers</B> or (collectively) <B>-ser.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of several kinds of large, fish-eating ducks having long, slender, serrated bills hooked at the tip, and great diving powers; sheldrake. They are found in many parts of the world. Mergansers often have crested heads. </DL>
<A NAME="merge">
<B>merge, </B>verb, <B>merged,</B> <B>merging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to cause to be swallowed up or absorbed so as to lose its own character or identity; combine or consolidate. <BR> <I>Ex. The big company merged various small businesses.</I> (SYN) fuse. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) to immerse; sink (in). <BR> <I>Ex. the same forces which merged the Dane in the Englishman (John R. Green).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to become swallowed up or absorbed in something else. <BR> <I>Ex. The two airlines merged into one.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mergee">
<B>mergee, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> one party to a merger. </DL>
<A NAME="mergence">
<B>mergence, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a merging or being merged. </DL>
<A NAME="merger">
<B>merger, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of merging or the condition of being merged; consolidation; combination. <BR> <I>Ex. One big company was formed by the merger of four small ones.</I> (SYN) amalgamation, absorption. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person or thing that merges. </DL>
<A NAME="mericarp">
<B>mericarp, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> one of the seeded halves of the schizocarp, fruit of most plants of the parsley family or of the maple. </DL>
<A NAME="meridian">
<B>meridian, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>an imaginary circle passing through any place on the earth's surface and through the North and South Poles. <DD><B> 2. </B>the half of such a circle from pole to pole. All the places on the same meridian have the same longitude. <BR> <I>Ex. All places within one half-hour's time east and west of the 75th longitude line, or meridian, have Eastern Standard Time.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the highest point that the sun or any star reaches in the sky. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) the highest point; period of highest development or perfection; culmination. <BR> <I>Ex. The meridian of life is the prime of life. I imagined my fortune had passed its meridian, and must now decline (Charlotte Bronte).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>highest; greatest. <BR> <I>Ex. Athens reached its meridian glory in the age of Pericles.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with a meridian. <DD><B> 3. </B>at or from the zenith. <BR> <I>Ex. the sun's meridian beams. The meridian moon shone full into the hovel (Jane Porter).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>of or having to do with noon. <BR> <I>Ex. the meridian hour.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="meridianofgreenwich">
<B>meridian of Greenwich,</B> <B>=prime meridian.</B></DL>
<A NAME="meridional">
<B>meridional, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>having to do with or characteristic of the south or people living there, especially of southern France. <BR> <I>Ex. foremost among the Spanish grandees ... stood ... a man of meridional aspect with coal-black hair and beard (John L. Motley).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>situated in the south; southern. <DD><B> 3. </B>of or having to do with a meridian. <DD><B> 4. </B>along a meridian; in a north-south direction. <BR> <I>Ex. a meridional flow of air, a meridional chain of weather stations.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> an inhabitant of the south, especially the south of France. adv. <B>meridionally.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="meringue">
<B>meringue</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a mixture made of egg whites beaten stiff and sweetened with sugar, often flavored. Meringue is often made into shells for ice cream or other filling, or spread on pies or puddings, and lightly browned in the oven. <DD><B> 2. </B>a small shell made of this mixture and filled with fruit, whipped cream, ice cream, or other filling. </DL>
<A NAME="meringue">
<B>meringue</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a variant of the merengue, danced in Haiti. </DL>
<A NAME="merino">
<B>merino, </B>noun, pl. <B>-nos,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>Often, <B>Merino.</B> any one of a breed of sheep with long, fine wool and (on the full-grown male) large, spiral horns. It is of Spanish origin. <DD><B> 2. </B>the wool of this sheep. <DD><B> 3. </B>a soft woolen yarn made from it. <DD><B> 4. </B>a thin, soft, woolen fabric made from this yarn or some substitute. <DD><I>adj. </I> made of this wool, yarn, or fabric. </DL>
<A NAME="meristem">
<B>meristem, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Botany.) the undifferentiated, growing cellular tissue of the younger parts of plants; actively dividing cell tissue. </DL>
<A NAME="meristematic">
<B>meristematic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with the meristem. </DL>
<A NAME="meristic">
<B>meristic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Biology.) of or having to do with the number or arrangement of body parts or segments. <BR> <I>Ex. meristic variation.</I> adv. <B>meristically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="merit">
<B>merit, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>goodness; worth; value. <BR> <I>Ex. Each child will get a mark according to the merit of his work. Reputation is ... oft got without merit, and Lost without deserving (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>something that deserves praise or reward; commendable quality. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to be worthy of; deserve. <BR> <I>Ex. a hard-working boy merits praise.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to earn by commendable action. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to deserve. <BR> <I>Ex. a simple, religious fanatic, who felt sure that ... he was meriting well of God and his king (John L. Motley).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>make a merit of,</B> </I>to represent (some action, circumstance, or quality) as deserving of reward or praise. <BR> <I>Ex. the party felon whose unblushing face ... coolly makes a merit of disgrace (John Greenleaf Whittier).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>merits,</B> </I>real facts or qualities, whether good or bad. <BR> <I>Ex. The judge considered the case on its merits.</I> adj. <B>meritable.</B> </DL>
