Man

man

[ man ]SHOW IPA

SEE SYNONYMS FOR man ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural men  [men].

an adult male person. Compare woman (def. 1),boy (def. 1).

[bad iframe src]

a member of the speciesHomo sapiens or all the members of this species collectively, without regard to sex:prehistoric man.

the human individual as representing the species, without reference to sex; the human race;humankind:Man hopes for peace, but prepares for war.

SEE MORE

verb (used with object), manned,man·ning.

to furnish with men, as for service or defense.

to take one's place for service, as at a gun or post:to man the ramparts.

SEE MORE

interjection

Slang. an expression of surprise, enthusiasm, dismay, or other strong feeling:Man, what a ball game!

SEE MORE DEFINITIONS

QUIZZES

CHALLENGE YOURSELF WITH THIS FUN HIGH SCHOOL STORIES VOCAB QUIZ!

If your language skills aren’t already top-notch, then this vocab quiz can get you up to speed!

QUESTION 1 OF 10

sheathing

the act of a person who encloses something in or as if in a casing or covering

a school giving instruction in one or more of the fine or dramatic arts

a comic character, usually masked, dressed in multicolored, diamond-patterned tights, and carrying a wooden sword or magic wand

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

[bad iframe src]

IDIOMS FOR MAN

1. as one man, in complete agreement or accord;unanimously:They arose as one man to protest the verdict.

2. be one's own man,

   1. to be free from restrictions, control, or dictatorial influence; be independent:Now that he has a business he is his own man.

   2. to be in complete command of one's faculties:After a refreshing nap he was again his own man.

SEE MORE IDIOMS

ORIGIN OF MAN

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English noun man(n);cognate with German Mann, Dutch man, Old Norse mathr, Gothic manna;the Old English verb developed from the noun

SYNONYM STUDY FOR MAN

Man, male, gentleman are nouns referring to an adult male human being, one paradigm of gender and biological sex. 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 traditional 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 NOTE FOR MAN

The use of man1 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 toman 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.

OTHER WORDS FROM MAN

man·less, adjectiveman·less·ly, adverbman·less·ness, nounman·ness, noun

WORDS NEARBY MAN

mampara, mampoer, Ma'mun, al-, Mamurius, mamzer, man, mana, man about town, manacle, manada, Manado