mass

[ mas ]

/ mæs /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR mass ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a body of coherent matter, usually of indefinite shape and often of considerable size: a mass of dough.

a collection of incoherent particles, parts, or objects regarded as forming one body: a mass of sand.

aggregate; whole (usually preceded by in the): People, in the mass, mean well.

a considerable assemblage, number, or quantity: a mass of errors; a mass of troops.

bulk, size, expanse, or massiveness: towers of great mass and strength.

Fine Arts.

Painting. an expanse of color or tone that defines form or shape in general outline rather than in detail.
a shape or three-dimensional volume that has or gives the illusion of having weight, density, and bulk.

the main body, bulk, or greater part of anything: the great mass of American films.

Physics. the quantity of matter as determined from its weight or from Newton's second law of motion. Abbreviation: m Compare weight(def 2), relativistic mass, rest mass.

Pharmacology. a preparation of thick, pasty consistency, from which pills are made.

the masses, the ordinary or common people as a whole; the working classes or the lower social classes.

adjective

pertaining to, involving, or affecting a large number of people: mass unemployment; mass migrations; mass murder.

participated in or performed by a large number of people, especially together in a group: mass demonstrations; mass suicide.

pertaining to, involving, or characteristic of the mass of the people: the mass mind; a movie designed to appeal to a mass audience.

reaching or designed to reach a large number of people: television, newspapers, and other means of mass communication.

done on a large scale or in large quantities: mass destruction.

verb (used without object)

to come together in or form a mass or masses: The clouds are massing in the west.

verb (used with object)

to gather into or dispose in a mass or masses; assemble: The houses are massed in blocks.

Origin of mass

1350–1400; Middle English masse < Latin massa mass < Greek mâza barley cake, akin to mássein to knead

synonym study for mass

5. See size¹.

OTHER WORDS FROM mass

mass·ed·ly

[mas-id-lee, mast-lee] /ˈmæs ɪd li, ˈmæst li/, adverb un·massed, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH mass

massed mast

Words nearby mass

masqat, masque, masque biliaire, masquer, masquerade, mass, mass affluent, mass book, mass card, mass defect, mass extinction

Definition for masses (2 of 3)

massé

[ ma-sey or, esp. British, mas-ee ]

/ mæˈseɪ or, esp. British, ˈmæs i /

noun Billiards.

a stroke made by hitting the cue ball with the cue held almost or quite perpendicular to the table.

Also called massé shot.

Origin of massé

1870–75; < French: literally, hammered, i.e., struck from above, straight down, equivalent to masse sledge hammer (Old French mace; see mace¹) + -é -ee

Definition for masses (3 of 3)

Mass

[ mas ]

/ mæs /

noun

the celebration of the Eucharist. Compare High Mass, Low Mass.

(sometimes lowercase) a musical setting of certain parts of this service, as the Kyrie eleison, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei.

Origin of Mass

before 900; Middle English masse, Old English mæsse < Vulgar Latin *messa, Late Latin missa, formally feminine of Latin missus, past participle of mittere to send, dismiss; perhaps extracted from a phrase in the service with missa est and a feminine subject

Example sentences from the Web for masses

In a culture that worships celebrities while pretending to disdain them, the Sony emails are catnip for the masses.

The Disaster Story That Hollywood Had Coming |Doug McIntyre |December 17, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Under the Sun King, such humor—and the laughter associated with it—was seen as more suitable for the masses.

The French Court’s Royal Ban on Smiles |William O’Connor |December 14, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Today, the iconic name shepherds the masses to galleries and museums the world over.

Decoding Vincent Van Gogh’s Tempestuous, Fragile Mind |Nick Mafi |December 7, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
First on the to-do list, the profiling exercises to help the Western masses understand the nature of the wretched beast.

ISIS and BS |Amal Ghandour |October 15, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

“In a sense, the masses are not organized,” says Lo, who is with the South China Morning Post.

Occupy Hong Kong Hangs On |Lennox Samuels |September 30, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
It is certainly better suited to the bold outlines and masses of the Norman period.

The Cathedral Church of York |A. Clutton-Brock
In our judgment, that is the only way to raise the masses to a consciousness of their rights and responsibilities.

The Political Future of India |Lajpat Rai
Industrial crises follow each other with increasing severity and the masses are becoming more and more pauperized.

Labor's Martyrs |Vito Marcantonio
The boulders of Erreré are entirely distinct from the rock of the Serra, and consist of masses of compact hornblende.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 106, August, 1866 |Various
We simply fell over the cliff, plunging, caroming, and ricocheting down through the masses of vegetation.

In Africa |John T. McCutcheon

British Dictionary definitions for masses (1 of 4)

masses

/ (ˈmæsɪz) /

pl n

the masses the body of common people

(often foll by of) informal, mainly British great numbers or quantities masses of food

British Dictionary definitions for masses (2 of 4)

mass

/ (mæs) /

noun

a large coherent body of matter without a definite shape

a collection of the component parts of something

a large amount or number, such as a great body of people

the main part or majority the mass of the people voted against the government's policy

in the mass in the main; collectively

the size of a body; bulk

physics a physical quantity expressing the amount of matter in a body. It is a measure of a body's resistance to changes in velocity (inertial mass) and also of the force experienced in a gravitational field (gravitational mass): according to the theory of relativity, inertial and gravitational masses are equal See also inertial mass, gravitational mass

(in painting, drawing, etc) an area of unified colour, shade, or intensity, usually denoting a solid form or plane

pharmacol a pastelike composition of drugs from which pills are made

mining an irregular deposit of ore not occurring in veins

adjective

done or occurring on a large scale mass hysteria; mass radiography

consisting of a mass or large number, esp of people a mass meeting

verb

to form (people or things) or (of people or things) to join together into a mass the crowd massed outside the embassy

Derived forms of mass

massed, adjective massedly (ˈmæsɪdlɪ, ˈmæstlɪ), adverb

Word Origin for mass

C14: from Old French masse, from Latin massa that which forms a lump, from Greek maza barley cake; perhaps related to Greek massein to knead

British Dictionary definitions for masses (3 of 4)

Mass

/ (mæs, mɑːs) /

noun

(in the Roman Catholic Church and certain Protestant Churches) the celebration of the Eucharist See also High Mass, Low Mass

a musical setting of those parts of the Eucharistic service sung by choir or congregation

Word Origin for Mass

Old English mæsse, from Church Latin missa, ultimately from Latin mittere to send away; perhaps derived from the concluding dismissal in the Roman Mass, Ite, missa est, Go, it is the dismissal

British Dictionary definitions for masses (4 of 4)

massé

mass shot

/ (ˈmæsɪ) /

noun

billiards a stroke made by hitting the cue ball off centre with the cue held nearly vertically, esp so as to make the ball move in a curve around another ball before hitting the object ball

Word Origin for massé

C19: from French, from masser to hit from above with a hammer, from masse sledgehammer, from Old French mace mace 1

Medical definitions for masses

mass

[ măs ]

n.

A unified body of matter with no specific shape.

A grouping of individual parts or elements that compose a unified body of unspecified size or quantity.

The physical volume or bulk of a solid body.

The measure of the quantity of matter that a body or an object contains. The mass of the body is not dependent on gravity and therefore is different from but proportional to its weight.

A thick, pasty pharmacological mixture containing drugs from which pills are formed.

One of the seven fundamental SI units, the kilogram.

massa

Scientific definitions for masses

mass

[ măs ]

A measure of the amount of matter contained in or constituting a physical body. In classical mechanics, the mass of an object is related to the force required to accelerate it and hence is related to its inertia, and is essential to Newton's laws of motion. Objects that have mass interact with each other through the force of gravity. In Special Relativity, the observed mass of an object is dependent on its velocity with respect to the observer, with higher velocity entailing higher observed mass. Mass is measured in many different units; in most scientific applications, the SI unit of kilogram is used. See Note at weight. See also rest energy General Relativity.

Cultural definitions for masses (1 of 3)

Mass

The common name in the Roman Catholic Church, and among some members of the Anglican Communion, for the sacrament of Communion.

notes for Mass

In the Middle Ages in England, mass meant a religious feast day in honor of a specific person; thus, “Christ's Mass,” or Christmas, is the feast day of Christ; and Michaelmas is the feast day of the angel Michael.

Cultural definitions for masses (2 of 3)

Mass

In music, a musical setting for the texts used in the Christian Church at the celebration of the Mass, or sacrament of Communion. Most Masses have been written for use in the Roman Catholic Church.

notes for Mass

Many composers have written Masses; among them are Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Josef Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, Leonard Bernstein, and Duke Ellington.

Cultural definitions for masses (3 of 3)

mass

In physics, the property of matter that measures its resistance to acceleration. Roughly, the mass of an object is a measure of the number of atoms in it. The basic unit of measurement for mass is the kilogram. (See Newton's laws of motion; compare weight.)

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

mass

noun

adjective

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

Origin of mass

synonym study for mass

OTHER WORDS FROM mass

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH mass

Words nearby mass

Definition for masses (2 of 3)

noun Billiards.

Origin of massé

Definition for masses (3 of 3)

noun

Origin of Mass

Words related to masses

Example sentences from the Web for masses

British Dictionary definitions for masses (1 of 4)

pl n

British Dictionary definitions for masses (2 of 4)

noun

adjective

verb

Derived forms of mass

Word Origin for mass

British Dictionary definitions for masses (3 of 4)

noun

Word Origin for Mass

British Dictionary definitions for masses (4 of 4)

mass shot

noun

Word Origin for massé

Medical definitions for masses

n.

Scientific definitions for masses

Cultural definitions for masses (1 of 3)

notes for Mass

Cultural definitions for masses (2 of 3)

notes for Mass

Cultural definitions for masses (3 of 3)