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maize

A large species of American grass of the genus Zea (Zea Mays), widely cultivated as a forage and food plant; Indian corn, commonly called corn. Also, its seed, growing on cobs, and used as food for men and animals.

majagua

A shrubby tree (Hibiscus tiliaceus) widely distributed along tropical shores, which yields a light tough wood used for canoe outriggers and a fiber used for cordage and caulk; it is often cultivated for ornament.

Majestic

Possessing or exhibiting majesty; of august dignity, stateliness, or imposing grandeur; lofty; noble; grand.

Majesty

The dignity and authority of sovereign power; quality or state which inspires awe or reverence; grandeur; exalted dignity, whether proceeding from rank, character, or bearing; imposing loftiness; stateliness; -- usually applied to the rank and dignity of sovereigns.

Majidae

A natural family comprising the spider crabs.

Majolica

A kind of pottery, with opaque glazing and showy decoration, which reached its greatest perfection in Italy in the 16th century.

Major

An officer next in rank above a captain and next below a lieutenant colonel; the lowest field officer.

major axis

The greater axis of a geometrical figure. the longest axis of an ellipse or ellipsoid, which passes through the two foci. See Focus, n., 2.

major diatonic scale

The natural diatonic scale, which has semitones between the third and fourth, and seventh and eighth notes, and whole tones between the other notes; the scale of the major mode, of which the third is major; also called major scale. See Scale, and Diatonic.

major league

The most important league{2} in any sport (especially baseball); contrasted with minor league. Its teams are more competent, its members are paid more, and its games attract more interest and publicity, than those of a minor league.

major power

A nation powerful enough to influence events throughout the world.

major premise

That premise of a syllogism that contains the major term (which is the predicate of the conclusion). Contrasted to minor premise.

major suit

A suit of playing cards which has higher scoring value; specifically, either spades or hearts. Contrasted with a minor suit, being either diamonds or clubs.

major term

That term of a syllogism which forms the predicate of the conclusion.

Major-domo

A man who has authority to act, within certain limits, as master of the house; a steward; also, a chief minister or officer.

Majorana

A small genus of herbs usually included in the genus Origanum.

Majorat

The right of succession to property according to age; -- so termed in some of the countries of continental Europe.

Majorcan

Of or pertaining to Majorca. A native or inhabitant of Majorca.

Majority

The quality or condition of being major or greater; superiority. The military rank of a major. The condition of being of full age, or authorized by law to manage one's own affairs.

majority leader

The leader of the majority party in a legislature. Compare minority leader.

majority rule

The rule or doctrine that the numerical majority{2} of an organized group can make decisions binding on the whole group; as, our club makes decisions by majority rule.. Contrasted with unanimous consent, or decision by a decree of a single person or small committee forming part of an organization.

majors

The teams in the major leagues.

Majusculae

Capital letters, as found in manuscripts of the sixth century and earlier.

Majuscule

A capital letter; especially, one used in ancient manuscripts. See Majusculae.

Makalu

A mountain in Nepal and Tibet, 27,824 feet high.

make

To cause to exist; to bring into being; to form; to produce; to frame; to fashion; to create. To form of materials; to cause to exist in a certain form; to construct; to fabricate.

Make

Structure, texture, constitution of parts; construction; shape; form.

make believe

To pretend; -- often used with that, but often having the that omitted; as, he made believe he didn't hear her; or he made believe that he didn't hear her.

make known

To reveal; to disclose; as, the congressman made known his interest in the company only after he voted on the bill.

make-believe

A feigning to believe, as in the play of children; a mere pretense; a fiction; an invention.

make-up makeup

The way in which the parts of anything are put together.

make-work

Active work of litle value, such as assignments given by teachers to students to keep them busy while the teacher performs other tasks, or chores performed to while away time; also called busywork.

Makebate

One who excites contentions and quarrels.

Maker

One who makes, forms, or molds; a manufacturer; specifically, the Creator.

makeready

The final preparation and adjustments.

makeshift

That with which one makes shift; a temporary expedient, with implication of inferiority to the more usual object or means.

Makeweight

That which is thrown into a scale to make weight; something of little account added to supply a deficiency or fill a gap.

Maki

A lemur. See Lemur.

Making

The act of one who makes; workmanship; fabrication; construction; as, this is cloth of your own making; the making of peace or war was in his power.

Making-iron

A tool somewhat like a chisel with a groove in it, used by calkers of ships to finish the seams after the oakum has been driven in.

Making-up

The act of bringing spirits to a certain degree of strength, called proof.

mako

Same as mako shark.

mako shark

A powerful and fierce mackerel shark of the Atlantic and Pacific, of the family Lamidae.

makomako

A graceful deciduous shrub or small tree (Aristotelia serrata) having attractive foliage and small red berries that turn black at maturity and are used for making wine.

Maksutov telescope

A type of reflecting telescope in which the aberration of the concave mirror is reduced by a meniscus lens.

mal de mer

Motion sickness experienced while traveling on water; seasickness.

Mala

Evils; wrongs; offenses against right and law.

Malabar

A region in the western part of the Peninsula of India, between the mountains and the sea.

malabar kino

The reddish or black juice or resin from certain trees of the genus Pterocarpus, used in medicine and tanning etc.

Malacanthidae

A natural family of short-headed marine fishes which are often brightly colored.

Malacca

A town and district upon the seacoast of the Malay Peninsula.

malacca cane

A walking cane made from the stem of a species of palm of the genus Calamus (Calamus Scipionum), and of a brown color, often mottled. The plant is a native of Cochin China, Sumatra, and Malays.

Malachite

Native hydrous carbonate of copper, usually occurring in green mammillary masses with concentric fibrous structure.

Malacobdella

A genus of nemertean worms, parasitic in the gill cavity of clams and other bivalves. They have a large posterior sucker, like that of a leech. See Illust. of Bdellomorpha.

Malacoderm

One of a tribe of beetles (Malacodermata), with a soft and flexible body, as the fireflies.

Malacology

The science which relates to the structure and habits of mollusks.

Malacopoda

A class of air-breathing Arthropoda; -- called also Protracheata, and Onychophora.

Malacopterygii

An order of fishes in which the fin rays, except the anterior ray of the pectoral and dorsal fins, are closely jointed, and not spiny. It includes the carp, pike, salmon, shad, etc. Called also Malacopteri.

Malacosteon

A peculiar disease of the bones, in consequence of which they become softened and capable of being bent without breaking.

Malacostraca

A subclass of Crustacea, including Arthrostraca and Thoracostraca, or all those higher than the Entomostraca.

Malacostracology

That branch of Zoological science which relates to the crustaceans; -- called also carcinology.

Malacozoa

An extensive group of Invertebrata, including the Mollusca, Brachiopoda, and Bryozoa. Called also Malacozoaria.

Maladdress

Bad address; an awkward, tactless, or offensive way of accosting one or talking with one.

Maladministration

Bad administration; bad management of any business, especially of public affairs.

Maladroit

Of a quality opposed to adroitness; clumsy; awkward; unskillful.

malady

Any disease of the human body; a distemper, disorder, or indisposition, proceeding from impaired, defective, or morbid organic functions; especially, a lingering or deep-seated disorder.

Malaga

A city and a province of Spain, on the Mediterranean. Hence, Malaga grapes, Malaga raisins, Malaga wines.

Malagasy

A native or natives of Madagascar; also (sing.), the language.

Malagasy Republic

Former name of the Republic of Madagascar, a nation in Africa occupying the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean east of Mozambique.

Malaise

An indefinite feeling of uneasiness, or of being sick or ill at ease.

Malambo

A yellowish aromatic bark, used in medicine and perfumery, said to be from the South American shrub Croton Malambo.

Malamethane

A white crystalline substance forming the ethyl salt of malamic acid.

Malamic

Of or designating an acid intermediate between malic acid and malamide, and known only by its salts.

Malamide

The acid amide derived from malic acid, as a white crystalline substance metameric with asparagine.

malanders

A scurfy eruption in the bend of the knee of the fore leg of a horse. See Sallenders.

malapert

Bold; forward; impudent; saucy; pert. A malapert person.

malapropism

A grotesque misuse of a word; a word so used.

malapropos

Unseasonable or unseasonably; unsuitable or unsuitably.

Malapterurus

A genus of African siluroid fishes, including the electric catfishes. See Electric cat, under Electric.

Malapterurus electricus

The species name of the electric catfish, a freshwater catfish of the Nile and tropical central Africa having an electric organ.

Malar

Of or pertaining to the region of the cheek bone, or to the malar bone; jugal.

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