| mésalliance |
marriage with someone of lower social standing than oneself. |
| mescal |
one of two species of cactus, esp. a small, globe-shaped plant with buttonlike projections that are chewed as a hallucinogenic drug by certain Mexican Indians during religious ceremonies. [2 definitions] |
| mescaline |
a drug that causes hallucinations and similar mind-altering effects, derived from the buttonlike protuberances of the mescal cactus; peyote. |
| mesdames |
pl. of madame. |
| mesdemoiselles |
pl. of mademoiselle. |
| mesencephalon |
the midbrain. |
| mesentery |
the membrane that encloses the small intestine and connects it to the spinal wall of the abdomen. |
| mesh |
any of the open spaces in a net, sieve, wire screen, or the like. [8 definitions] |
| meshuga |
(informal) crazy; insane. |
| meshwork |
something of or like mesh; meshes or network. |
| mesmerism |
the theories and practices of Franz Mesmer, esp. those involving hypnotism and magnetic attraction of living beings. |
| mesmerize |
to induce a hypnotic trance in; hypnotize. [2 definitions] |
| meso- |
middle. |
| mesoblast |
in an embryo, the middle layer of cells; mesoderm. |
| mesocarp |
the middle layer or fleshy part of a ripened fruit. |
| mesoderm |
in an embryo, the middle layer of cells from which the skeletal, muscular, connective, and other tissues develop. |
| Mesolithic |
(sometimes l.c.) designating the Stone Age cultural period from about 10,000 to about 8,000 B.C., between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic periods, characterized by the use of small flint tools set in bone or wood. |
| mesomorphic |
of or pertaining to a muscular human body type. (Cf. ectomorphic, endomorphic.) |
| meson |
any of a group of elementary particles that react strongly with other particles, and that have a mass between that of the electron and that of the proton. |
| mesosphere |
the earth's atmosphere between the stratosphere and the thermosphere, or from twenty miles to fifty miles above the earth's surface. |
| mesothelioma |
a tumor of the mesothelium, often malignant and possibly caused by the breathing in of particles of asbestos. |