I. ˈmās noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin mattia; akin to Latin mateola mallet, Old High German medela plow, Sanskrit matya harrow
1.
a. : a heavy staff or club made wholly or partly of metal, often spiked, and used especially in the middle ages for breaking armor
b. : a club used as an offensive weapon
a policeman's mace
2. : a staff borne by, carried before, or placed near a magistrate or other dignitary as an ensign of his authority
3. : mace-bearer
4. : a knobbed mallet used by curriers in dressing leather to make it supple
5.
a. : a rod with a flat wooden head formerly used in billiards instead of a cue
b. : a similar rod used in bagatelle
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to strike with or as if with a mace
the boxer maced his opponent with a left hook
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English mace, macis, from Middle French maci, macis, from Latin macir reddish rind of an Indian root, from Greek makir, makeir
1. : a fragrant and highly aromatic spice consisting of the dried arillode of the nutmeg
2. : the dried arillode of various other nutmeg trees used as spice — usually used with a qualifying term
Bombay mace
IV. noun
( plural mace )
Etymology: Malay mas, ĕmas mace, gold, from Sanskrit māṣa bean, weight
1. archaic : a small gold coin of Malaysia
2. : a Chinese unit of weight and a corresponding unit of value equal to one tenth of a tael
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: origin unknown
1. or mace·man -smən plural macemen slang : swindler
2. slang : swindling
VI. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
slang : cheat , swindle ; especially : to force political contributions from (public employees)
VII. ˈmās transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to attack with the Mace liquid