/ mæn; NAmE / noun , verb , exclamation
■ noun
( pl. men / men; NAmE /)
MALE PERSON
1.
[ C ] an adult male human :
a good-looking young man
the relationships between men and women
—see also dirty old man , ladies' man , men's room
HUMANS
2.
[ U ] humans as a group or from a particular period of history :
the damage caused by man to the environment
early / modern / Prehistoric man
➡ note at gender
3.
[ C ] ( literary or old-fashioned ) a person, either male or female :
All men must die.
PARTICULAR TYPE OF MAN
4.
[ C ] (in compounds) a man who comes from the place mentioned or whose job or interest is connected with the thing mentioned :
a Frenchman
a businessman
a medical man
a sportsman
➡ note at gender
5.
[ C ] a man who likes or who does the thing mentioned :
a betting / drinking / fighting man
—see also family man
6.
[ C ] a man who works for or supports a particular organization, comes from a particular town, etc. :
the BBC's man in Moscow (= the man who reports on news from Moscow)
a loyal Republican Party man
—see also right-hand man , yes-man
SOLDIER / WORKER
7.
[ C , usually pl. ] a soldier or a male worker who obeys the instructions of a person of higher rank :
The officer refused to let his men take part in the operation.
8.
[ C ] a man who comes to your house to do a job :
the gas man
The man's coming to repair the TV today.
FORM OF ADDRESS
9.
[ sing. ] ( informal , especially NAmE ) used for addressing a male person :
Nice shirt, man!
Hey man. Back off!
10.
[ sing. ] ( old-fashioned ) used for addressing a male person in an angry or impatient way :
Don't just stand there, man—get a doctor!
HUSBAND / BOYFRIEND
11.
[ C ] (sometimes disapproving ) a husband or sexual partner :
What's her new man like?
I now pronounce you man and wife (= you are now officially married) .
—see also old man
STRONG / BRAVE PERSON
12.
[ C ] a person who is strong and brave or has other qualities that some people think are particularly male :
Come on, now—be a man.
She's more of a man than he is.
—see also he-man , muscleman , superman
SERVANT
13.
[ sing. ] ( old-fashioned , formal ) a male servant :
My man will drive you home.
IN CHESS
14.
[ C ] one of the figures or objects that you play with in a game such as chess
—see also chessman
•
IDIOMS
- as one man
- be sb's man
- be man enough (to do sth / for sth)
- every man for himself
- make a man (out) of sb
- a / the man about town
- man and boy
- the man (and / or woman) in the street
- a man of God / the cloth
- the man of the match
- a man of the people
- man's best friend
- a man's home is his castle
- a man's man
- be your own man / woman
- man to man
- one man's meat is another man's poison
- separate / sort out the men from the boys
- to a man | to the last man
- you can't keep a good man down
—more at grand adjective , heart , marked , next adjective , odd adjective , part noun , poor , possessed , substance , thing , word noun , world
■ verb
( -nn- ) [ vn ] to work at a place or be in charge of a place or a machine; to supply people to work somewhere
SYN crew , staff :
Soldiers manned barricades around the city.
The telephones are manned 24 hours a day by volunteers.
■ exclamation
( informal , especially NAmE ) used to express surprise, anger, etc. :
Man, that was great!
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English man(n ), (plural) menn (noun), mannian (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch man , German Mann , and Sanskrit manu mankind.