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Magniloquent

Speaking pompously; using swelling discourse; bombastic; tumid in style; grandiloquent.

Magnitude

Extent of dimensions; size; -- applied to things that have length, breadth, and thickness.

Magnolia

A genus of American and Asiatic trees, with aromatic bark and large sweet-scented whitish or reddish flowers.

Magnoliaceae

A natural family of plants, a subclass of the Magnoliidae; it includes the genera Liriodendron; Magnolia; Manglietia; and Michelia.

Magnoliaceous

Pertaining to a natural order (Magnoliaceae) of trees of which the magnolia, the tulip tree, and the star anise are examples.

Magnoliidae

a group of families of trees and shrubs and herbs having well-developed perianths and apocarpous ovaries and generally regarded as the most primitive extant flowering plants; contains 36 families including Magnoliaceae and Ranunculaceae; sometimes classified as a superorder.

Magnoliophyta

A class of flowering plants that produce seeds enclosed in an ovary; in some systems considered a class (Angiospermae) and in others a division (Magnoliophyta or Anthophyta).

Magnoliopsida

A class of seed plants that produce an embryo with two cotyledons and net-veined leaves; divided into six (not always well distinguished) subclasses (or superorders): Magnoliidae and Hamamelidae (considered primitive); Caryophyllidae (an early and distinctive offshoot); and three more or less advanced groups: Dilleniidae; Rosidae; Asteridae.

magnum

Having a larger charge than usual for a cartridge of the same caliber; -- of cartridges for handgun; as, a .44 magnum cartridge.

Magpie

Any one of numerous species of the genus Pica and related genera, allied to the jays, but having a long graduated tail.

Maguari

A South American stork (Euxenara maguari), having a forked tail.

Maguey

Any of several species of Agave, such as the century plant (Agave Americana), a plant requiring many years to come to maturity and blossoming only once before dying; and the Agave atrovirens, a Mexican plant used especially for making pulque, the source of the colorless Mexican liquor mescal; and the cantala (Agave cantala), a Philippine plant yielding a hard fibre used in making coarse twine. See Agave.

magus

a magician or sorcerer of ancient times.

Magyar

Of or pertaining to the Magyars or their language; Hungarian.

Maha

A member of the Siouan people formerly living in the Missouri river valley in Northeastern Nebraska; called also Omaha.

Mahabharatam Mahabarata

A celebrated sacred epic poem of the Hindus, written in Sanskrit. It is of great length, and is chiefly devoted to a history, in many episodes, of a civil war between two dynasties of ancient India.

Mahaled

A cherry tree (Prunus Mahaleb) of Southern Europe. The wood is prized by cabinetmakers, the twigs are used for pipe stems, the flowers and leaves yield a perfume, and from the fruit a violet dye and a fermented liquor (like kirschwasser) are prepared.

maharajah maharaja

A sovereign prince in India; a Hindu prince or king in India ranking above a raja; -- a title given also to other persons of high rank.

maharani

A great rani; a princess in India or the wife of a maharaja.

Maharif

An African antelope (Hippotragus Bakeri). Its face is striped with black and white.

Maharmah

A muslin wrapper for the head and the lower part of the face, worn by Turkish and Armenian women when they go abroad.

Mahatma

One of a class of sages, or /adepts,/ reputed to have knowledge and powers of a higher order than those of ordinary men.

Mahayana

a major school of Buddhism teaching social concern and universal salvation, found in China; Japan; Tibet; Nepal; Korea; and Mongolia.

Mahdi

Among Muslims, the last imam or leader of the faithful. The Sunni, the largest sect of the Muslims, believe that he is yet to appear.

Mahdism

Belief in the coming of the Mahdi; fanatical devotion to the cause of the Mahdi or a pretender to that title.

mahimahi

either of two large slender food and game fish (Coryphaena equisetis or Coryphaena hippurus) of warm waters. They are highly esteemed as food fish, especially in Hawaii. See also dolphin{2}.

mahl-stick mahlstick

A long stick that a painter uses to support the hand holding the brush while painting. Same as Maul-stick.

Mahoe

A name given to several malvaceous trees (species of Hibiscus, Ochroma, etc.), and to their strong fibrous inner bark, which is used for strings and cordage.

Maholi

A South African lemur (Galago maholi), having very large ears.

Mahometanize

To convert to Islam, the religion of Mohammed; to Mohammedanize.

mahonia

The Oregon grape, a species of barberry (Berberis Aquifolium), often cultivated for its hollylike foliage.

Mahonia

A genus of evergreen shrubs and small trees of North and Central America and Asia.

Mahoohoo

The African white two-horned rhinoceros (Atelodus simus).

Mahori

One of the dark race inhabiting principally the islands of Eastern Polynesia. Also used adjectively.

Mahound

A contemptuous name for Mohammed; hence, an evil spirit; a devil.

Mahout

The keeper and driver of an elephant.

Mahovo

A device for saving power in stopping and starting a railroad car, by means of a heavy fly wheel.

Mahrati

The language of the Mahrattas; the language spoken in the Deccan and Concan.

Mahratta

One of a numerous people inhabiting the southwestern part of India. Also, the language of the Mahrattas; Mahrati. It is closely allied to Sanskrit. Of or pertaining to the Mahrattas.

Mahratta Marathi

A Sanskritic language of western India, prob. descended from the Maharastri Prakrit, spoken by the Marathas and neighboring peoples. It has an abundant literature dating from the 13th century. It has a book alphabet nearly the same as Devanagari and a cursive script translation between the Devanagari and the Gujarati.

Maia

A genus of spider crabs, including the common European species (Maia squinado). A beautiful American bombycid moth (Eucronia maia).

Maian

Any spider crab of the genus Maia, or family Maiadae.

Maid

An unmarried woman; usually, a young unmarried woman; esp., a girl; a virgin; a maiden.

Maidan

In various parts of Asia, an open space, as for military exercises, or for a market place; an open grassy tract; an esplanade.

Maiden

To act coyly like a maiden; -- with it as an indefinite object.

maiden aunt

Literally, an aunt who has never been married. Figuratively, it is a term used as the prototype of a person who is broadly naive and not wise in worldly ways; as, he knows as much about programming as my maiden aunt.

maiden blue-eyed mary

A small widely branching Western wildflower (Collinsia parviflora) with tiny blue-and-white flowers; found from British Columbia to Ontaria and south to California and Colorado.

maiden pink

A low-growing loosely mat-forming Eurasian pink (Dianthus deltoides) with single crimson-eyed pale pink flowers.

maidenhair berry

A slow-growing procumbent evergreen shrublet (Gaultheria hispidula) of Northern North America and Japan having white flowers and numerous white fleshy rough-hairy seeds.

maidenhair fern maidenhair

Any of various small to large terrestrial ferns of the genus Adiantum having very slender graceful stalks and delicate palmately branched fronds, especially (Adiantum pedatum). It is common in the United States, and is sometimes used in medicine. The name is also applied to other species of the same genus, as to the Venus-hair.

maidenhair spleenwort

A small rock-inhabiting fern (Asplenium trichomanes) of the North temperate zone and Hawaii, having pinnate fronds.

maidenhair tree

A deciduous dioecious gymnospermous Chinese tree (Ginkgo biloba) having fan-shaped leaves and fleshy yellow seeds, also called the ginkgo; it exists almost exclusively in cultivation esp. as an ornamental street tree.

Maidenhead

The state of being a maiden; maidenhood; virginity.

Maidenhood

The state of being a maid or a virgin; virginity.

Maidenliness

The quality of being maidenly; the behavior that becomes a maid; modesty; gentleness.

Maidmarian

The lady of the May games; one of the characters in a morris dance; a May queen. Afterward, a grotesque character personated in sports and buffoonery by a man in woman's clothes.

maieutic method

A method of teaching by question and answer; it was used by Socrates to elicit truths from his students; -- called also the Socratic method

Maieutics

The art of giving birth (i. e., clearness and conviction) to ideas, which are conceived as struggling for birth.

Maigre

Belonging to a fast day or fast; as, a maigre day.

Maikel

A South American carnivore of the genus Conepatus, allied to the skunk, but larger, and having a longer snout. The tail is not bushy.

Maikong

A South American wild dog (Canis cancrivorus); the crab-eating dog.

Mail

To deliver into the custody of the postoffice officials, or place in a government letter box, for transmission by mail; to post; as, to mail a letter.

mail bag mailbag

A bag in which mailed matter is conveyed or shipped under public authority.

mail call

A call of the names of those persons receiving mail for the purpose of transmitting mail to them; -- a technique used in the military services to deliver mail to enlisted personnel.

mail car

A railway car of special design used for the transportation and sorting of mail en route to its destination, and having employees of the post office inside to perform those functions.

mail carrier

A person who delivers the mail; -- also called a letter carrier. A male mail carrier is also called a mailman.

mail fraud

The use of the mails to defraud someone.

mail slot

A usually horizontal slot in a door through which mail can be delivered. It often has a hinged cover to keep the opening cloised when not in use.

mail-order mail-order buying

The buying and selling of goods to be shipped from the vendor through the mail to the purchaser. Information about to be purchased may be found in catalogs, advertisements, on the web, etc., and purchase orders transmitted to the vendor by mail, telephone, or internet connection.

Mailable

Admissible lawfully into the mail. Opposed to non-mailable. Dangerous items such as explosives, weapons, or corrosive chemicals are often classified by the postal authorities as non-mailable.

mailbox

A public box for deposit of mail, where it is later picked up by the postal authority for delivery.

Mailclad

Protected by a coat of mail; clad in armor.

mailing

The act or process of sending materials through the mail.

mailing address

The postal address where a maile can be addressed to a person or organization.

mailing list

A list of names and addresses to which advertising, solicitations of money, or other materials material sent in large quantities is mailed; -- it is usually used by comercial or charitable organizations. Mailing lists are often sold by organizations to other organizations, and are frequently used for targeted mailing, i. e., mailing to groups of people who are more likely htan the general population to respond as desired to the message in the mail.

maillot

A woman's one-piece bathing suit.

mailman

A man who delivers the mail. A male mail carrier.

mailsorter

A machine that sorts mail, according to the address.

Maim

The privation of the use of a limb or member of the body, by which one is rendered less able to defend himself or to annoy his adversary.

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