Mean - Definition

adj 1: approximating the statistical norm or average or expected
value; "the average income in New England is below that
of the nation"; "of average height for his age"; "the
mean annual rainfall" [syn: average, mean(a)]
2: characterized by malice; "a hateful thing to do"; "in a mean
mood" [syn: hateful, mean]
3: having or showing an ignoble lack of honor or morality; "that
liberal obedience without which your army would be a base
rabble"- Edmund Burke; "taking a mean advantage"; "chok'd
with ambition of the meaner sort"- Shakespeare; "something
essentially vulgar and meanspirited in politics" [syn:
base, mean, meanspirited]
4: excellent; "famous for a mean backhand"
5: marked by poverty befitting a beggar; "a beggarly existence
in the slums"; "a mean hut" [syn: beggarly, mean]
6: (used of persons or behavior) characterized by or indicative
of lack of generosity; "a mean person"; "he left a miserly
tip" [syn: mean, mingy, miserly, tight]
7: (used of sums of money) so small in amount as to deserve
contempt [syn: beggarly, mean]
8: of no value or worth; "I was caught in the bastardly traffic"
[syn: bastardly, mean]
n 1: an average of n numbers computed by adding some function of
the numbers and dividing by some function of n [syn:
mean, mean value]
v 1: mean or intend to express or convey; "You never understand
what I mean!"; "what do his words intend?" [syn: mean,
intend]
2: have as a logical consequence; "The water shortage means that
we have to stop taking long showers" [syn: entail, imply,
mean]
3: denote or connote; "`maison' means `house' in French"; "An
example sentence would show what this word means" [syn:
mean, intend, signify, stand for]
4: have in mind as a purpose; "I mean no harm"; "I only meant to
help you"; "She didn't think to harm me"; "We thought to
return early that night" [syn: intend, mean, think]
5: have a specified degree of importance; "My ex-husband means
nothing to me"; "Happiness means everything"
6: intend to refer to; "I'm thinking of good food when I talk
about France"; "Yes, I meant you when I complained about
people who gossip!" [syn: think of, have in mind, mean]
7: destine or designate for a certain purpose; "These flowers
were meant for you"