<B>misdemeanant, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Law.) a person convicted of a misdemeanor. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person guilty of misconduct. </DL>
<A NAME="misdemeanor">
<B>misdemeanor, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Law.) an act of breaking the criminal law, not so serious as a felony. <BR> <I>Ex. The theft of a small amount of money is a misdemeanor.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a wrong deed. (SYN) misdeed. <DD><B> 3. </B>bad behavior; misconduct. (SYN) misbehavior. </DL>
<B>misdiagnose, </B>transitive verb, <B>-nosed,</B> <B>-nosing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to diagnose incorrectly. </DL>
<A NAME="misdiagnosis">
<B>misdiagnosis, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ses.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an incorrect diagnosis. <BR> <I>Ex. Even in recent years this same misdiagnosis has been made, and patients have been committed to mental institutions as having childhood schizophrenia when in reality they have phenylketonuria (Atlantic).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="misdid">
<B>misdid, </B>verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> the past tense of <B>misdo.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="misdirect">
<B>misdirect, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to direct wrongly; give wrong directions to. <BR> <I>Ex. Great interests ... which might be affected by a misdirected or careless inheritance of the colossal Walter empire (Time). In the hurry of a trial the ablest judge may mistake the law and misdirect the jury (William Blackstone).</I> (SYN) mislead. </DL>
<A NAME="misdirection">
<B>misdirection, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>wrong direction; improper guidance. <DD><B> 2. </B>direction to an incorrect address. <BR> <I>Ex. misdirection of a letter.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Law.) an error made by a judge in his charge to a jury. </DL>
<A NAME="misdivide">
<B>misdivide, </B>transitive verb, <B>-vided,</B> <B>-viding.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to divide incorrectly. </DL>
<A NAME="misdivision">
<B>misdivision, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an incorrect division. </DL>
<A NAME="misdo">
<B>misdo, </B>transitive verb, intransitive verb, <B>-did,</B> <B>-done,</B> <B>-doing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to do wrongly; perform improperly; do amiss. <BR> <I>Ex. I have misdone, and I endure the smart (John Dryden).</I> noun <B>misdoer.</B> </DL>
<B>misdone, </B>verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> the past participle of <B>misdo.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="misdoubt">
<B>misdoubt, </B>verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to have doubts about; be distrustful of; suspect; distrust. <BR> <I>Ex. I do not misdoubt my wife (Shakespeare). We do injuriously ... to misdoubt her [truth's] strength (Milton).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to fear. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>suspicion; distrust; doubt. <DD><B> 2. </B>fear of evil. <BR> <I>Ex. Change misdoubt to resolution (Shakespeare).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mise">
<B>mise, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a settlement by agreement. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Law.) the main point or issue in a writ of right. </DL>
<B>mise en scene,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) <DD><B> 1. </B>the scenery, properties, and the like, for a play. <BR> <I>Ex. The tasteful handling of the mise en scene and the subtle use of color ... made the performance a joy to watch (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the placing of scenery and actors in a scene. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) setting; surroundings; milieu. <BR> <I>Ex. The train whistles in the background add to the mise en scene (Harper's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="misemploy">
<B>misemploy, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to use wrongly or improperly. (SYN) misuse. noun <B>misemployment.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="miser">
<B>miser, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>a person who loves money for its own sake; one who lives poorly in order to save money and keep it. A miser dislikes to spend money for anything, except to gain more money. <BR> <I>Ex. Even to the old The hours are as a miser's coins (Thomas B. Aldrich).</I> (SYN) skinflint, niggard. <DD><B> b. </B>any grasping person. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) a miserable wretch. </DL>
<A NAME="miserable">
<B>miserable, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>very unhappy; unfortunate or uncomfortable. <BR> <I>Ex. A sick child is often miserable.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>causing trouble, unhappiness, or discomfort. <BR> <I>Ex. miserable damp weather. I have a miserable cold. O, I have passed a miserable night, so full of ugly sights, of ghastly dreams (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>poor; mean; wretched. <BR> <I>Ex. The ragged child lives in miserable surroundings.</I> (SYN) sordid. <DD><B> b. </B>pitiful; deplorable; sorry. <BR> <I>Ex. a miserable failure, miserable sinners.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a person who is in misery or great want. noun <B>miserableness.</B> adv. <B>miserably.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="miserere">
<B>Miserere, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the 51st Psalm in the Revised and Authorized versions of the Bible; the 50th Psalm in the Douay Version of the Bible. <DD><B> 2. </B>a musical setting for this psalm. </DL>
<A NAME="miserere">
<B>miserere, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a prayer asking mercy. <DD><B> 2. </B>a bracket on the under side of a hinged seat in a church stall, so arranged that when the seat is turned up a person standing in the stall could lean against it for support. </DL>
<A NAME="misericord">
<B>misericord</B> or <B>misericorde, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a specially permitted relaxation of monastic rule, as in dress or food. <DD><B> 2. </B>a room in a monastery in which certain relaxations of the rule are permitted, especially those relating to food. <DD><B> 3. </B><B>=miserere </B>(def. 2). <DD><B> 4. </B>(in the Middle Ages) a dagger used to give the death blow to a wounded foe. </DL>
<B>miserliness, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the condition or quality of being miserly; avariciousness; niggardliness; penuriousness. </DL>
<A NAME="miserly">
<B>miserly, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of, like, or suited to a miser; stingy. <BR> <I>Ex. miserly habits, a miserly wretch.</I> (SYN) niggardly, close, penurious. </DL>
<A NAME="misery">
<B>misery, </B>noun, pl. <B>-eries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a miserable, unhappy state of mind. <BR> <I>Ex. Think of the misery of having no home or friends. It is acknowledged that rage, envy, resentment, are in themselves mere misery (Samuel Butler).</I> (SYN) wretchedness, woe, distress. <DD><B> 2. </B>poor, mean, miserable circumstances. <BR> <I>Ex. the misery of poverty, companions in misery. The very poor live in misery without beauty or comfort around them.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a miserable condition or circumstance; a cause or source of wretchedness. <BR> <I>Ex. The explorer was exposed to unthinkable miseries and hardships. That packet of assorted miseries which we call a ship (Rudyard Kipling).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(U.S.) bodily pain. <BR> <I>Ex. He had the worst "misery in his back" that he had ever suffered (George W. Cable).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="misesteem">
<B>misesteem, </B>verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> to hold improperly in low esteem. <DD><I>noun </I> want of esteem or respect; disesteem. </DL>
<A NAME="misestimate">
<B>misestimate, </B>verb, <B>-mated,</B> <B>-mating,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> to make an incorrect estimate of. <DD><I>noun </I> an incorrect estimate or valuation. noun <B>misestimation.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="misfeasance">
<B>misfeasance, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the wrongful performance of a lawful act; wrongful and injurious exercise of lawful authority. (SYN) malfeasance. <DD><B> 2. </B>any wrong done; trespass. <BR> <I>Ex. General denunciation, embellished with assorted charges of misfeasance and high misdemeanors (New York Times).</I> (SYN) misdeed. </DL>
<A NAME="misfeasor">
<B>misfeasor, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Law.) a person guilty of misfeasance. </DL>
<A NAME="misfile">
<B>misfile, </B>transitive verb, <B>-filed,</B> <B>-filing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to file incorrectly. <BR> <I>Ex. a misfiled memorandum.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="misfire">
<B>misfire, </B>verb, <B>-fired,</B> <B>-firing,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to fail to fire or explode properly. <BR> <I>Ex. The pistol misfired. The firings were the first of the Talos since October 15 when the missile's booster misfired shortly after takeoff (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to go wrong; fail. <BR> <I>Ex. The robber's scheme misfired and he went to jail. The play as a whole misfires (New Yorker).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> failure to discharge or start. </DL>
<A NAME="misfit">
<B>misfit, </B>noun, verb, <B>-fitted,</B> <B>-fitting.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a person who does not fit in a job or group; maladjusted individual. <BR> <I>Ex. The old farmer sure was a misfit among all those fancy businessmen.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a bad fit; a garment or other article which does not fit. <BR> <I>Ex. Do not buy shoes which are misfits.</I> <DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to fit badly. <BR> <I>Ex. His clothes are completely misfitting.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="misform">
<B>misform, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to form amiss; misshape. </DL>
