| man (mæn) |
| |
| —n , pl men |
| 1. | an adult male human being, as distinguished from a woman |
| 2. | (modifier) male; masculine: a man child |
| 3. | archaic a human being regardless of sex or age, considered as a representative of mankind; a person |
| 4. | (sometimes capital) human beings collectively; mankind: 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. | slang (South African) any person: used as a term of address |
| 16. | a vassal of a feudal lord |
| 17. | as one man with unanimous action or response |
| 18. | be one's own man to be independent or free |
| 19. | he's your man he's the person needed (for a particular task, role, job, etc) |
| 20. | man and boy from childhood |
| 21. | sort out the men from the boys, separate the men from the boys to separate the experienced from the inexperienced |
| 22. | to a man |
| | a. unanimously |
| | b. without exception: they were slaughtered to a man |
| |
| —interj |
| 23. | informal an exclamation or expletive, often indicating surprise or pleasure |
| |
| —vb , men, mans, manning, manned |
| 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 man, esp strangers |
| |
| [Old English mann; related to Old Frisian man, Old High German man, Dutch man, Icelandic mathr] |
| |
| usage The use of man 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 |
| |
| 'manless |
| |
| —adj |