Chiefly Southern & South Midland U.S. To apply pressure to; press.
Slang To flirt with or make sexual advances to.
[Middle English mash- (as in mashfat, mash tub), from Old English *māsc, *mǣsc, māx- (in māxwyrt, wort); see meik- in Indo-European roots. V., sense 5, perhaps from Romany mash, to entice.]
late O.E. masc-wyrt "mash-wort, infused malt," from P.Gmc. *maisk- (cf. Swed. mäsk "grains for pigs," Ger. Maisch "crushed grapes," O.E. meox "dung, filth), from PIE *meigh- "to sprinkle" (cf. O.E. miscian "to mix," Skt. mehati "urinates," Gk. omeikhein, L. meiere "to urinate," Pol. miazga "sap"). Originally a word in brewing; general sense of "anything reduced to a soft pulpy consistency" is recorded from 1598. Short for mashed potatoes it is attested from 1904. The verb is O.E. mæscan, from the noun.
a mixture of mashed malt grains and hot water; used in brewing
2.
mixture of ground animal feeds
verb
1.
to compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition; "crush an aluminum can"; "squeeze a lemon" [syn: squash]
2.
talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions; "The guys always try to chat up the new secretaries"; "My husband never flirts with other women" [syn: chat up]
3.
reduce to small pieces or particles by pounding or abrading; "grind the spices in a mortar"; "mash the garlic" [syn: grind]
Mash\, n. [Akin to G. meisch, maisch, meische, maische, mash, wash, and prob. to AS. miscian to mix. See Mix.]1. A mass of mixed ingredients reduced to a soft pulpy state by beating or pressure; a mass of anything in a soft pulpy state. Specifically (Brewing), ground or bruised malt, or meal of rye, wheat, corn, or other grain (or a mixture of malt and meal) steeped and stirred in hot water for making the wort. 2. A mixture of meal or bran and water fed to animals. 3. A mess; trouble. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl. Mash tun, a large tub used in making mash and wort.
Mash\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mashed; p. pr. & vb. n. Mashing.] [Akin to G. meischen, maischen, to mash, mix, and prob. to mischen, E. mix. See 2d Mash.] To convert into a mash; to reduce to a soft pulpy state by beating or pressure; to bruise; to crush; as, to mash apples in a mill, or potatoes with a pestle. Specifically (Brewing), to convert, as malt, or malt and meal, into the mash which makes wort. Mashing tub, a tub for making the mash in breweries and distilleries; -- called also mash tun, and mash vat.