■ noun ( plural men )
1》 an adult hu~ male.
2》 a male member of a workforce, team, etc.
3》 a husband or lover: ~ and wife.
4》 a person.
↘hu~ beings in general; the hu~ race.
5》 ( the Man ) informal a group or person in a position of authority over others, such as a corporate employer or the police.
6》 a figure or token used in a board game.
■ verb ( ~s , ~ning , ~ned )
1》 provide (a place or machine) with the personnel to run, operate, or defend it.
2》 archaic fortify the spirits or courage of.
■ exclamation informal, chiefly N. Amer. used for emphasis or to express surprise, admiration, or delight.
Phrases
be someone's (or the ) ~ be the person perfectly suited to a requirement or task.
be ~ enough be brave enough.
~ about town a fashionable and sociable ~.
~ and boy from childhood.
the ~ in (or US on ) the street the average ~.
~ of the cloth a clergy~.
~ of God a clergy~.
↘a holy ~ or saint.
~ of the house the male head of a household.
~ of letters a male scholar or author.
~ of straw (also straw ~ )
1》 a person who is a sham.
2》 a person undertaking a financial commitment without adequate means.
~ to ~
1》 in a direct and frank way between two men.
2》 denoting a defensive tactic in soccer or other sports in which each player is responsible for marking one opponent.
to a ~ without exception.
Derivatives
~less adjective
~like adjective
~ned adjective
Origin
OE ~(n ), (plural) menn (n.), ~nian (v.), of Gmc origin; related to Sanskrit ~u '~kind'.
Usage
The generic use of ~ to refer to ‘hu~ beings in general’ has become problematic in modern use; it is now widely regarded as old-fashioned or sexist. Alternative terms such as the hu~ race or hu~kind may be used in some contexts, but elsewhere there are no established alternatives, for example for the term ~power or the verb ~ .