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Definition of 'man'

Word Frequency

man

(mæn )
Word forms: plural men , 3rd person singular present tense mans , present participle manning , past tense, past participle manned
1. countable noun
A man is an adult male human being.
He had not expected the young man to reappear before evening.
I have always regarded him as a man of integrity. [+ of]
...the thousands of men, women and children who are facing starvation.
Synonyms: male, guy [informal], fellow [informal], gentleman   More Synonyms of man
2. variable noun
Man and men are sometimes used to refer to all human beings, including both males and females. Some people dislike this use.
The chick initially has no fear of man.
Anxiety is modern man's natural state.
...a possible first step to sending a man back to the moon or to Mars.
Synonyms: humankind, humanity, mankind, people   More Synonyms of man
3. countable noun
If you say that a man is, for example, a gambling man or an outdoors man, you mean that he likes gambling or outdoor activities.
Are you a gambling man, Mr Graham?
He is a keen outdoors man with a great interest in photography and walking.
4. countable noun
If you say that a man is, for example, a London man or an Oxford man, you mean that he comes from London or Oxford, or went to university there.
...as the Stockport man collected his winnings.
Attlee was an Oxford man.
5. countable noun
If you refer to a particular company's or organization's man, you mean a man who works for or represents that company or organization.
[journalism]
...the Daily Telegraph's man in Abu Dhabi.
...America's man at the United Nations.
6. countable noun [poss NOUN]
If you say that a man is someone's man, you mean that he always supports that person or does what they want.
7. singular noun
Some people refer to someone's husband, lover, or boyfriend as their man.
[informal]
...if they see your man cuddle you in the kitchen or living room.
8. plural noun
In the armed forces, the men are soldiers, sailors, marines, or airmen of lower rank, as opposed to the officers.
150 officers and men had to be taken straight to hospital.
...a drill sergeant who would work with the men at least one hour every morning.
9. plural noun [oft poss NOUN]
Male workers are sometimes referred to as men, especially if they do physical work or work for a more senior person.
The men voted by a four-to-one majority to accept the pay offer.
After the talks, the leader of the Workers' Council said his men would be going back down the mines.
Synonyms: worker, labourer, workman, hand   More Synonyms of man
10. vocative noun
One man sometimes addresses another as 'man' when he is angry or impatient with him.
[old-fashioned, feelings]
I told you, man! It'll be sometime after eight o'clock.
11. countable noun
In very informal social situations, man is sometimes used as a greeting or form of address to a man.
[formulae]
Hey wow, man! Where d'you get those boots?
12. verb
If you man something such as a place or machine, you operate it or are in charge of it.
French soldiers manned roadblocks in the capital city. [VERB noun]
...the person manning the phone at the complaints department. [VERB noun]
The station is seldom manned in the evening. [be VERB-ed]
Synonyms: staff, people, fill, crew   More Synonyms of man
13.  See also manned, ladies' man, no-man's land
14. 
man enough to/for
15. 
a man's man
16. 
my man
17. 
my man
18. 
own man
19. 
to a man
20. 
man to man
21.  the man in the street
22.  man about town
23.  man of the world
Phrasal verbs:
man up
More Synonyms of man
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency

man in British

(mæn )
nounWord forms: plural men (mɛn )
1. 
an adult male human being, as distinguished from a woman
2. (modifier)
male or masculine
a man child
3. archaic
a human being regardless of sex or age, considered as a representative of humankind; a person
4. (sometimes capital)
human beings collectively; humankind
the development of man
5. Also called: modern man
a. 
a member of any of the living races of Homo sapiens, characterized by erect bipedal posture, a highly developed brain, and powers of articulate speech, abstract reasoning, and imagination
b. 
any extinct member of the species Homo sapiens, such as Cro-Magnon man
6. 
a member of any of the extinct species of the genus Homo, such as Java man, Heidelberg man, and Solo man
7. 
an adult male human being with qualities associated with the male, such as courage or virility
be a man
8. 
manly qualities or virtues
the man in him was outraged
9. 
a. 
a subordinate, servant, or employee contrasted with an employer or manager
b. 
(in combination)
the number of man-days required to complete a job
10. (usually plural)
a member of the armed forces who does not hold commissioned, warrant, or noncommissioned rank (as in the phrase officers and men)
11. 
a member of a group, team, etc
12. 
a husband, boyfriend, etc
man and wife
13. 
an expression used parenthetically to indicate an informal relationship between speaker and hearer
14. 
a movable piece in various games, such as draughts
15. South Africa slang
any person: used as a term of address
16. 
a vassal of a feudal lord
17.  as one man
18.  be one's own man
19.  he's your man
20.  man and boy
21.  sort out the men from the boys
22.  to a man
exclamation
23. informal
an exclamation or expletive, often indicating surprise or pleasure
verbWord forms: mans, manning or manned (transitive)
24. 
to provide with sufficient people for operation, defence, etc
to man the phones
25. 
to take one's place at or near in readiness for action
26. falconry
to induce (a hawk or falcon) to endure the presence of and handling by humans, esp strangers
▶ USAGE The use of man and mankind to mean human beings in general is often considered sexist. Gender-neutral alternatives include human beings, people and humankind. The verb to man can also often be replaced by to staff, to operate and related words. Gender-neutral alternatives to manpower include personnel and staff.
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
manless (ˈmanless)
adjective
Word origin of 'man'
Old English mann; related to Old Frisian man, Old High German man, Dutch man, Icelandic mathr
Word Frequency

Man in British 1

(mæn )
noun
the Man (sometimes not capital) US
1. Black slang
a White man or White men collectively, esp when in authority, in the police, or held in contempt
2. slang
a drug peddler
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency

Man in British 2

(mæn )
noun
Isle of Man
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency

Man in American 1

(mæn ; man)
Isle ofone of the British Isles, between Northern Ireland & England: 221 sq mi (572 sq km); pop. 70,000; cap. Douglas
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word Frequency

Man in American 2

1. 
Manila (paper)
2. 
Manitoba
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word Frequency

man in American

(mæn ; man)
nounWord forms: plural men (mɛn ; men)
1. 
a human being; person
; specif.,
a. 
a hominid (Homo sapiens) having an opposable thumb, the ability to make and use specialized tools, articulate speech, and a highly developed brain with the faculty of abstract thought: the only living hominid
b. 
any extinct hominid, as Neanderthal man
2. 
the human race; mankind
used without the or a
3. 
a. 
an adult male human being
b. 
sometimes, a boy
4. 
a. 
an adult male servant, follower, attendant, or subordinate
b. 
a male employee; workman
c.  [usually pl.]
a soldier, sailor, etc.; esp., one of the rank and file
d.  Archaic
a vassal
5. 
a. 
a husband
b. 
a lover
6. 
a person with qualities conventionally regarded as manly, such as strength, courage, etc.
7. 
a player on a team
8. 
any of the pieces used in chess, checkers, etc.
9.  Slang
fellow; chap
used in direct address
10.  Nautical
a ship
used in compounds
man-of-war, merchantman
verb transitiveWord forms: manned or ˈmanning
11. 
to furnish with a labor force for work, defense, etc.
to man a ship
12. 
to take assigned places in, on, or at for work or defense
man the guns!
13. 
to strengthen; brace; fortify; nerve
to man oneself for an ordeal
14.  Falconry
to tame or accustom (a hawk) to the presence of men
interjection Slang
15. 
used to provide emphasis
16. 
used in a neutral way to preface or resume one's remarks
adjective
17. 
male
Idioms:
as a man
be one's own man
man and boy
the Man
to a man
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin of 'man'
ME < OE mann, akin to Ger mann, Goth manna < IE base *manu- (> Sans mánu-, Russ muž): akin ? to *men-, to think > mind

Example sentences containing 'man'

These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content. Read more…
They claim he would turn up at very short notice and was sometimes with younger men. The Sun (2016)But my partner says he will leave if this man comes back into our lives. The Sun (2017)There is only one man who can pick them up. The Sun (2016)Their bodies were spotted by rescue teams looking for another man seen at the top. The Sun (2017)He must be the smiling front man and often the one who tells players when they are dropped. The Sun (2016)That is a man saying 'I know best. The Sun (2016)That same month a 4x4 full of armed men pulled up next to where he was parked. Times, Sunday Times (2016)I consider myself a man of the people. The Sun (2016)I was struck recently by the way modern men feel obliged to advise rising generations. Times, Sunday Times (2016)It wasn't just older, white men with less education. The Sun (2016)The men had been working on damage to a mains pipeline. The Sun (2016)Two other causes of loss of libido in older men are often missed. Times, Sunday Times (2007)There is too much pressure on modern men to attend the birth. The Sun (2013)The sketch involved a grown man going back to his boyhood school. Christianity Today (2000)It will need a very sharp sprint from one man to overtake the other. Times, Sunday Times (2011)This experience made her feel unable to trust another man. The Sun (2010)It followed reports that an armed man had buried himself underground. The Sun (2011)Police appealed for witnesses who may have seen the man in the city centre to come forward. Times, Sunday Times (2016)The only defence for either man would be to plead insanity. Times, Sunday Times (2011)No doubt the different circumstances gave smaller groups of men more time to weigh their options. The Times Literary Supplement (2010)They also felt more angry than the men who suppressed their emotions. Claudia Hammond EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER: A Journey Through the Science of Feelings (2005)Former colleagues say he is a man who gets things done. Times, Sunday Times (2006) Young men nowadays prefer computers and video games to football in the streets. Stewart, Bob (Lt-Col) Broken Lives (1993)We put men on the moon and dreamt of robots that could vacuum and scrub. Times, Sunday Times (2008)The training of officers improved, as new men replaced the older feudal generals. Stearns, Peter N. World History: Patterns of Change and Continuity (1995)

Quotations

Man is only a reed, the weakest thing in nature; but he is a thinking reedBlaise Pascal Pensées
Man is the measure of all thingsProtagoras
Man is heaven's masterpieceFrancis Quarles Emblems
There are many wonderful things, and nothing is more wonderful than manSophocles Antigone
Man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the graveThomas Browne Hydriotaphia
Man is an embodied paradox, a bundle of contradictionsCharles Colton Lacon
The four stages of man are infancy, childhood, adolescence and obsolescenceArt Linkletter A Child's Garden of Misinformation
What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!William Shakespeare Hamlet
Man is something to be surpassedFriedrich Nietzche Thus Spake Zarathustra
Man was formed for societyWilliam Blackstone Commentaries on the Laws of England
man: an animal so lost in rapturous contemplation of what he thinks he is as to overlook what he indubitably ought to beAmbrose Bierce The Devil's Dictionary
Man, became man through work, who stepped out of the animal kingdom as transformer of the natural into the artificial, who became therefore the magicianErnst Fischer The Necessity of Art
The best of men are but men at best

Word Lists

island

Trends of 'man'

Extremely Common. man is one of the 1000 most commonly used words in the Collins dictionary

View usage for:

Nearby words of 'man'

  • mampoer
  • mamselle
  • mamzer
  • man
  • -man
  • man (or woman) of his (or her) word
  • man about town

  • All ENGLISH words that begin with 'M'

Related Terms of 'man'

  • -man
  • G-man
  • T-man
  • de-man
  • he-man

  • View more related words

Source

Definition of man from the Collins English Dictionary

Active and passive

Active sentences In the following example, the verb is active. The postman delivers hundreds of letters every day. The subject of an active sentence is also the person or thing that carries out ...
Read more about 'Active and passive'
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Scrabble score for 'man': 5
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