man 1
— manless , adj. — manlessly , adv. — manlessness , n. — manness , n.
/man/ , n. , pl. men , v. , manned, manning , interj.
n.
1. an adult male person, as distinguished from a boy or a woman.
2. a member of the species Homo sapiens or all the members of this species collectively, without regard to sex: prehistoric man.
3. the human individual as representing the species, without reference to sex; the human race; humankind: Man hopes for peace, but prepares for war.
4. a human being; person: to give a man a chance; When the audience smelled the smoke, it was every man for himself.
5. a husband.
6. a male lover or sweetheart.
7. a male follower or subordinate: the king's men. He's the boss's number one man.
8. a male employee or representative, esp. of a company or agency: a Secret Service man; a man from the phone company.
9. a male having qualities considered typical of men or appropriately masculine: Be a man. The army will make a man of you.
10. a male servant.
11. a valet.
12. See enlisted man .
13. an enthusiast or devotee: I like jazz, but I'm essentially a classics man.
14. Slang. male friend; ally: You're my main man.
15. a term of familiar address to a man; fellow: Now, now, my good man, please calm down.
16. Slang. a term of familiar address to a man or a woman: Hey, man, take it easy.
17. one of the pieces used in playing certain games, as chess or checkers.
18. Hist. a liegeman; vassal.
19. Obs. manly character or courage.
20. as one man , in complete agreement or accord; unanimously: They arose as one man to protest the verdict.
21. be one's own man ,
a. to be free from restrictions, control, or dictatorial influence; be independent: Now that he has a business he is his own man.
b. to be in complete command of one's faculties: After a refreshing nap he was again his own man.
22. man and boy , ever since childhood: He's been working that farm, man and boy, for more than 50 years.
23. man's man , a man who exemplifies masculine qualities.
24. the man , Slang.
a. a person or group asserting authority or power over another, esp. in a manner experienced as being oppressive, demeaning, or threatening, as an employer, the police, or a dominating racial group.
b. a person or group upon whom one is dependent, as the drug supplier for an addict. Also, the Man .
25. to a man , with no exception; everyone; all: To a man, the members of the team did their best.
v.t.
26. to furnish with men, as for service or defense.
27. to take one's place for service, as at a gun or post: to man the ramparts.
28. to strengthen, fortify, or brace; steel: to man oneself for the dangers ahead.
29. Falconry. to accustom (a hawk) to the presence of men.
interj.
30. Slang. an expression of surprise, enthusiasm, dismay, or other strong feeling: Man, what a ball game!
[ bef. 900; (n.) ME; OE man ( n ); c. G Mann, D man, ON mathr, Goth manna; (v.) ME mannen, OE mannian to garrison ]
Syn . MAN, MALE, GENTLEMAN are nouns referring to adult human beings who are biologically male; that is, physiologically equipped to initiate conception but not to bear children. MAN is the most general and most commonly used of the three; it can be neutral, lacking either favorable or unfavorable implication: a wealthy man; a man of strong character, of unbridled appetites. It can also signify possession of the most typical or desirable masculine qualities: to take one's punishment like a man. MALE emphasizes the physical or sexual characteristics of a man; it may also refer to an animal or plant: a male in his prime; two males and three females in the pack; a male of the genus Ilex.
In scientific and statistical use, MALE is the neutral contrastive term to FEMALE: 104 females to every 100 males; Among birds, the male is often more colorful than the female. GENTLEMAN, once used only of men of high social rank, now also specifies a man of courtesy and consideration: a real gentleman; to behave like a gentleman. GENTLEMAN is also used as a polite term of reference ( This gentleman is waiting for a table ) or, only in the plural, of address ( Are we ready to begin, gentlemen? ). See also manly, male .
Usage . The use of MAN 1 to mean "human being," both alone and in compounds such as MANKIND, has met with objection in recent years, and the use is declining. The objection is based on the idea that MAN is most commonly used as an exclusive, sex-marked noun meaning "male human being." Critics of the use of MAN as a generic maintain that it is sometimes ambiguous when the wider sense is intended ( Man has built magnificent civilizations in the desert ), but more often flatly discriminatory in that it slights or ignores the membership of women in the human race: The man in the street wants peace, not war.
Although some editors and writers reject or disregard these objections to MAN as a generic, many now choose instead to use such terms as human being ( s ), human race, humankind, people, or, when called for by style or context, women and men or men and women. See also -man, -person, -woman .
man 2
/mahn, man/ ; unstressed /meuhn/ , auxiliary v. Scot.
maun.