<B>mi.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>mile or miles. <DD><B> 2. </B>mill or mills. </DL>
<A NAME="mi">
<B>MI</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>Michigan (with postal Zip Code). <DD><B> 2. </B>Military Intelligence. </DL>
<A NAME="mi">
<B>M.I.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Military Intelligence. </DL>
<A NAME="mi5">
<B>M.I.5,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the division of British Military Intelligence concerned with counterespionage and security in Great Britain. </DL>
<A NAME="mia">
<B>M.I.A.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>missing in action. <DD><B> 2. </B>Also, <B>MIA</B> (no periods). Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (in Australia). </DL>
<A NAME="miacis">
<B>miacis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a prehistoric carnivorous ancestor of the dog and cat, about the size of a weasel, having a long body, short legs, and a long tail. </DL>
<A NAME="miami">
<B>Miami, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ami</B> or <B>-amis.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a member of a tribe of Algonkian Indians, formerly in the Green Bay region of Wisconsin. <DD><B> 2. </B>their language, a dialect of Illinois. </DL>
<A NAME="miamian">
<B>Miamian, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a native or inhabitant of Miami, Florida. </DL>
<A NAME="miaow">
<B>miaow</B> or <B>miaou, </B>noun, interjection, intransitive verb, transitive verb. =meow.</DL>
<A NAME="miasm">
<B>miasm, </B>noun. =miasma.</DL>
<A NAME="miasma">
<B>miasma, </B>noun, pl. <B>-mas,</B> <B>-mata.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a bad-smelling vapor rising from decaying matter on the earth. The miasma of swamps was formerly supposed to cause disease. <BR> <I>Ex. ... far enough from the Dead Sea to escape its miasma (London Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) anything considered to resemble this in its ability to spread and poison. <BR> <I>Ex. a miasma of fear.</I> </DL>
<B>mib, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a marble, especially one used as the object of a shot. <BR><I>expr. <B>mibs,</B> </I>the game of marbles. </DL>
<A NAME="mic">
<B>Mic.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Micah (book of the Old Testament). </DL>
<A NAME="mic">
<B>MIC</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> military-industrial complex. <BR> <I>Ex. Representatives of the big firms, sometimes called MICs (for military-industrial complex), are often corporate vice presidents (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mica">
<B>mica, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a mineral that divides into thin, partly transparent layers; isinglass. Mica is highly resistant to heat and is used in electric fuses and formerly in stove doors and lanterns, where the heat might break glass. Mica is composed essentially of silicate of aluminum, of potassium, or of other metals, occurring in minute, glittering plates or scales in granite and other rocks, or in crystals that separate. <BR> <I>Ex. An outcrop of sandstone and schist with secondary white mica (Science News).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="micaceous">
<B>micaceous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>consisting of, containing, or like mica. <BR> <I>Ex. micaceous minerals.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with mica. </DL>
<A NAME="micah">
<B>Micah, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a Hebrew prophet of the 700's B.C. <DD><B> 2. </B>a book of the Old Testament attributed to him, placed among the Minor Prophets. (Abbr:) Mic. </DL>
<B>Micawber, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B><B>Wilkins,</B> an optimistic character in Charles Dickens' novel <I>David Copperfield,</I> who is seldom able to pay his bills and is always expecting "that something will turn up." <DD><B> 2. </B>any person resembling Micawber in character or habits. </DL>
<A NAME="micawberish">
<B>Micawberish, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> characteristic of a Micawber; improvident but habitually optimistic. <BR> <I>Ex. For years, the nation's biggest city has followed a Micawberish routine of using reserves and loans to meet ever-rising operating costs (Time).</I> adv. <B>Micawberishly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="micawberism">
<B>Micawberism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the quality or condition of being Micawberish. <BR> <I>Ex. My own fear is that the present Micawberism will leave us wide open ... to a humiliating series of defeats (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mice">
<B>mice, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> plural of <B>mouse.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="micella">
<B>micella, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cellae.</B> =micelle.</DL>
<A NAME="micelle">
<B>micelle</B> or <B>micell, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a colloidal particle, especially one in a soap solution. </DL>
<B>Michael, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> <B>Saint,</B> the archangel who led the loyal angels in defeating the revolt of Satan (in the Bible, Revelation 12:7-9). </DL>
<A NAME="michaelisconstant">
<B>Michaelis constant,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Biochemistry.) a measure of the affinity of an enzyme for its substrate, equal to the substrate concentration at which the enzyme-catalyzed reaction proceeds at half of its maximal rate. </DL>
<A NAME="michaelmas">
<B>Michaelmas, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an annual church festival honoring the archangel Michael and all the angels. Michaelmas is held on September 29 in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches and on November 8 in the Greek, Armenian, and Coptic churches. <DD><B> 2. </B>Also, <B>Michaelmas Day.</B> September 29, the date of this festival and one of the quarter days in England. </DL>
<A NAME="michaelmasdaisy">
<B>Michaelmas daisy,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a common wild aster often grown in gardens, that blooms near Michaelmas. <DD><B> 2. </B>any one of several garden asters of a shrubby habit and bearing masses of small, purplish flowers. </DL>
<A NAME="miche">
<B>miche, </B>verb, <B>miched,</B> <B>miching.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Dialect.) <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to lurk out of sight; skulk. <DD><B> 2. </B>to play truant. <DD><B> 3. </B>to grumble; whine. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to pilfer. noun <B>micher.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="micheas">
<B>Micheas, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> Micah in the Douay Bible. </DL>
<A NAME="michegamea">
<B>Michegamea, </B>noun, pl. <B>-mea</B> or <B>-meas.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a member of a woodland tribe of North American Indians, once constituting a part of the Illinois confederacy, who lived in eastern Arkansas. <DD><B> 2. </B>the language of this tribe, a dialect of Illinois. </DL>
<A NAME="michelangelesque">
<B>Michelangelesque, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or characteristic of Michelangelo or his work. <BR> <I>Ex. There is, in fact, something genuinely Michelangelesque about many of his paintings and drawings (London Times).</I> </DL>
<B>Michigander, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a native or inhabitant of the state of Michigan. </DL>
<A NAME="michiganite">
<B>Michiganite, </B>noun. =Michigander.</DL>
<A NAME="michron">
<B>michron, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the time of vibration of a wave of one micron. </DL>
<A NAME="mick">
<B>mick, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) an easy or simple college course. <BR> <I>Ex. Despite the best efforts of administrators to stamp them out, U.S. universities still have their share of "micks" (Mickey Mouse courses) (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mickey">
<B>Mickey</B> or <B>mickey, </B>noun, pl. <B>-eys.</B> <B>=Mickey Finn.<BR></B>expr. <B>take the mickey out of,</B> (British Slang.) to make fun of; ridicule. <BR> <I>Ex. Miss Grenfell ... helped to give us a happy satire on broadcasting itself and took the mickey out of certain familiar programmes (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mickeyfinn">
<B>Mickey Finn</B> or <B>mickey finn,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) a drugged alcoholic drink intended to make a person incapable of defending himself or of continuing whatever he may be doing. </DL>
<A NAME="mickeymouse">
<B>Mickey Mouse,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) <DD><B> 1. </B>anything unnecessary or unimportant. <BR> <I>Ex. A central concern now is ... the antimilitary atmosphere in the country, the low pay, and (for the younger men) the anachronistic spit-and-polish, the Mickey Mouse (Atlantic).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a muddled situation; foul-up. <BR> <I>Ex. Logistically so far, the only big Mickey Mouse, in G.I. parlance, was a brief shortage of canvas-and-rubber jungle boots (Time).</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>an easy or simple college course. <BR> <I>Ex. Some popular opinion persists, of course, that college courses in "the movies" are a kind of trade-school apprenticeship or something easy to relax with ("Mickey Mouse" in today's campus parlance) (Harper's).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>simple; easy; unimportant. <BR> <I>Ex. "This is no Mickey Mouse business," [he] said ... "In the old days you put together a funhouse for $3,000, now it can cost $40,000" (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mickeymouse">
<B>mickey-mouse, </B>intransitive verb, <B>-moused,</B> <B>-mousing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) to synchronize the background music with the action, as in an animated cartoon. <BR> <I>Ex. The choreography ... is the feeblest element in the film, with too much unimaginative "Mickey-mousing", matching each note in the score with some movement rather than creating an overall style of dance (London Times).</I> </DL>
<B>Micmac, </B>noun, pl. <B>-mac</B> or <B>-macs.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an Indian of an Algonkian tribe living in the Maritime Provinces of Canada. </DL>
<A NAME="micr">
<B>micr-,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (combining form.) the form of <B>micro-</B> before vowels, as in <I>microhm.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="micr">
<B>MICR</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> magnetic ink character recognition (a technique for sensing type faces by computer, used especially in processing bank checks and in printing). </DL>
<A NAME="micra">
<B>micra, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> microns; a plural of <B>micron.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="micrify">
<B>micrify, </B>transitive verb, <B>-fied,</B> <B>-fying.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to make small or insignificant. </DL>
