<B>mite</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a very tiny animal, related to the spider, that lives in foods, on plants, or on other animals. Mites are related to the ticks and sometimes are found as free-living scavengers in soil or water. Mites are arachnids. </DL>
<A NAME="mite">
<B>mite</B> (2), noun, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>anything very small; little bit. <BR> <I>Ex. I can't eat even a mite of supper. He doesn't care a mite.</I> (SYN) particle, iota, jot, whit. <DD><B> 2. </B>a coin of very small value. <DD><B> 3. </B>a very small sum of money. <BR> <I>Ex. Though poor, she gave her mite to charity.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a very small child. <BR> <I>Ex. What a mite she is!</I> (SYN) tot. <DD><I>adv. </I> (Informal.) little; a bit. <BR> <I>Ex. It is a mite easier to make reservations for Europe this year (Saturday Review).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="miter">
<B>miter</B> (1), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a tall, pointed, folded cap worn by bishops during sacred ceremonies. <DD><B> 2. </B>the office or dignity of bishop; episcopal rank. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Judaism.) the official headdress or ceremonial turban of the ancient Jewish high priest. <DD><B> 4. </B>a headband or fillet worn by women in ancient Greece. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to bestow a miter on; make a bishop. Also, (especially British,) <B>mitre.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="miter">
<B>miter</B> (2), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B><B>=miter joint.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>the bevel on either of the pieces in a miter joint. <DD><B> 3. </B><B>=miter square.</B> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to join with a miter joint. The corners of a picture frame are mitered. <DD><B> 2. </B>to prepare (ends of wood) for joining in a miter joint. Also, (especially British,) <B>mitre.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="miterbox">
<B>miter box,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an apparatus used to cut wood for a miter joint, having cuts to guide the saw. </DL>
<A NAME="mitered">
<B>mitered</B> (1), adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having a miter joint. </DL>
<A NAME="mitered">
<B>mitered</B> (2), adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>wearing or privileged to wear a bishop's miter. <BR> <I>Ex. a mitered abbot.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>shaped like a bishop's miter. </DL>
<A NAME="mitergear">
<B>miter gear,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a pair of beveled gear wheels of equal diameter whose axles are at right angles, and which have their teeth set at an angle of 45 degrees. </DL>
<A NAME="miterjoint">
<B>miter joint,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a kind of joint or corner where two pieces of wood are fitted together at right angles with the ends cut slanting, as at the corners of a picture frame. </DL>
<A NAME="mitershell">
<B>miter shell,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the fusiform shell of any of various gastropods, mostly of warm seas (so called from the shape of the spire). </DL>
<A NAME="mitersquare">
<B>miter square,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a carpenter's square having one arm fixed at a right angle to the other. <DD><B> 2. </B>a similar square having an arm adjustable to any angle. </DL>
<A NAME="miterwheels">
<B>miter wheels,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the gear wheels of a miter gear. </DL>
<A NAME="miterwort">
<B>miterwort, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of a group of low perennial plants of the saxifrage family, having a capsule that suggests a bishop's miter; bishop's-cap. <DD><B> 2. </B>an annual plant of the southeastern United States, with small white flowers and a capsule shaped like a miter. Also, (especially British,) <B>mitrewort.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="mithgarthr">
<B>Mithgarthr, </B>noun. <B>=Midgard.</B></DL>
<A NAME="mithra">
<B>Mithra, </B>noun. <B>=Mithras.</B></DL>
<A NAME="mithraeum">
<B>Mithraeum, </B>noun, pl. <B>-raea.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a Mithraic temple. </DL>
<A NAME="mithraic">
<B>Mithraic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of, having to do with, or connected with Mithras or his worship. </DL>
<A NAME="mithraicism">
<B>Mithraicism, </B>noun. <B>=Mithraism.</B></DL>
<A NAME="mithraism">
<B>Mithraism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the religion of the worshipers of Mithras. <BR> <I>Ex. Mithraism took on the form of a mystery religion, with elaborate rites and ceremonies (C. E. Olmstead).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mithraist">
<B>Mithraist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a worshiper of or believer in Mithras. </DL>
<B>mithramycin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a highly toxic antibiotic derived from a species of streptomyces, used in the treatment of various cancerous tumors. </DL>
<A NAME="mithras">
<B>Mithras, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the Persian and Aryan god of light, truth, and justice, who opposed Ahriman, the power of evil and darkness. Mithras became the subject of an extensive cult during the late Roman Empire. </DL>
<A NAME="mithridate">
<B>mithridate, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an antidote against poison, especially a compound of many ingredients, supposed to be an antidote against all poisons. </DL>
<A NAME="mithridatic">
<B>mithridatic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with a mithridate or mithridatism. </DL>
<A NAME="mithridatism">
<B>mithridatism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> resistance to a poison produced by taking the poison in gradually increased doses. </DL>
<A NAME="miticidal">
<B>miticidal, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that destroys mites. <BR> <I>Ex. a miticidal agent.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="miticide">
<B>miticide, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a substance for killing mites. </DL>
<A NAME="mitigable">
<B>mitigable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be mitigated. </DL>
<B>mitigate, </B>verb, <B>-gated,</B> <B>-gating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to make (wrath, harshness, severity, or adversity) less in force or degree. <BR> <I>Ex. The American genius for compromise could be invoked ... to mitigate possible dangers (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to make less severe; make more bearable; temper; moderate. <BR> <I>Ex. A cool breeze mitigated the scorching heat of the day. Aspirin mitigated the pain of his headache in about half an hour.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to make less harsh. <BR> <I>Ex. The principal mitigated the punishment that the teacher had given the boy in anger.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to become mild; become milder or less harsh; soften. </DL>
<A NAME="mitigation">
<B>mitigation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the action or process of mitigating. <BR> <I>Ex. The Governor's mitigation of the death sentence to life imprisonment met with approval.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the state of being mitigated. <DD><B> 3. </B>something that mitigates. <BR> <I>Ex. The breeze was a welcome mitigation of the heat.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mitigative">
<B>mitigative, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> tending to mitigate. <DD><I>noun </I> something that mitigates. (SYN) balm. </DL>
<A NAME="mitigator">
<B>mitigator, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person or thing that mitigates. </DL>
<A NAME="mitigatory">
<B>mitigatory, </B>adjective, noun, pl. <B>-ries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> mitigative. <DD><I>noun </I> something which serves to mitigate. </DL>
<B>mitis casting,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a method of producing malleable iron castings by fusing wrought iron with a minute quantity of aluminum. <DD><B> 2. </B>a casting so made. </DL>
<B>Mitnaggedim, </B>noun, pl. of <B>Mitnagged.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the Orthodox Jews of Russia and Lithuania who opposed the Hasidim during the 1700's and 1800's. <DD><B> 2. </B>all Orthodox Jews who are not Hasidim. </DL>
<A NAME="mitochondria">
<B>mitochondria, </B>noun, pl. of <B>mitochondrion.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> minute sausage-shaped structures found in the cytoplasm of cells, containing many enzymes important for cell metabolism. They produce most of the energy required by the cells. Mitochondria often change their shape under certain conditions although their number in each cell remains about the same. </DL>
<A NAME="mitochondrial">
<B>mitochondrial, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with the mitochondria. </DL>
<A NAME="mitochondrion">
<B>mitochondrion, </B>noun, pl. <B>-dria.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> singular of <B>mitochondria.</B> <BR> <I>Ex. The mitochondrion ... is frequently a spherical body about 1-2 microns in diameter (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<B>mitogenic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that promotes or induces mitosis. <BR> <I>Ex. mitogenic agents.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="mitomycin">
<B>mitomycin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an antibiotic substance obtained from a species of streptomyces, used to treat malignant tumors. </DL>
<A NAME="mitosis">
<B>mitosis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Biology.) the process by which a cell of a plant or animal divides to form two new cells, each containing the same number of chromosomes as the original cell; cell division. Mitosis is typically divided into four stages: <I>prophase,</I> in which the chromatin of the nucleus forms into a thread that separates into segments or chromosomes, each of which in turn separates longitudinally into two parts; <I>metaphase,</I> in which the nuclear membrane disappears and the chromosomes line up near the middle of the cell; <I>anaphase,</I> in which one chromosome of each pair moves toward each end of the cell; and <I>telophase,</I> in which the chromosomes lose their threadlike shape and again become chromatin, two new nuclear membranes form around the chromatin, and the cytoplasm draws together in the middle, divides, and two new cells exist. </DL>
<A NAME="mitotic">
<B>mitotic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of mitosis. adv. <B>mitotically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="mitra">
<B>Mitra, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Hindu Mythology.) a sun god and ruler of the day who, according to the Rig-Veda, jointly rules the universe with Varuna. </DL>
<B>mitrailleuse, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) <DD><B> 1. </B>an early type of machine gun consisting of a cluster of breechloading barrels around a central axis which could be fired simultaneously or in sequence. <DD><B> 2. </B>any machine gun. </DL>
