Mike
886
Mike n for the love of Mike old-fash infml an expression used to
show that you are very angry or disappointed
mi-la·dy /mɪˈleɪdi/ n an Englishwoman of NOBLE birth, often
used in the past as a form of address (from 'my lady'): yes,
milady
Mi·lan /mɪˈlæn/ a city in northern Italy, an important finan-
cial and industrial centre, which is also a centre of the fashion
industry and is known for its large CATHEDRAL and for its
famous OPERA HOUSE, LA SCALA
milch cow /'mɪltʃ kaʊ/ n BrE 1 a cow kept for milking 2 rare
derog a person or organization from whom it is easy to get
money
mild¹ /maɪld/ adj 1 usually apprec gentle; not violent: He has too
mild a nature to get angry, even if he has good cause. | a mild
protest 2 not causing a lot of discomfort or suffering; not
severe; slight: It's been a mild winter this year. (=not a cold
winter) | only a mild fever 3 (of food, drink etc) not strong or
bitter in taste: This is a very mild cheese; it has a delicate taste
and hardly any smell. —ness n [U]
mild² n [U] BrE infml beer with a mild taste: a glass of mild and
bitter (=a mixture of mild and bitter beer)
mil·dew /'mɪldju:ll-du:/ n [U] a soft usually whitish growth
that forms on plants and on food, leather etc that has been
kept for a long time in warm wet conditions —ed adj:
mildewed old books —y adj
mild·ly /'maɪldli/ adv 1 in a mild manner: She complained
loudly to the shopkeeper, who answered her mildly. 2 slightly:
I suggested it to him, but he seemed only mildly inter-
ested. 3 to put it mildly (used when describing something
less forcefully than one could do): The minister didn't act
very sensibly, to put it mildly. (=he behaved very foolishly)
,mild-'mannered adj (of a person) quiet, polite, not too
easily excited or emotional
mile /maɪl/ n 1 [C] a unit for measuring length: a five-mile
drive | They walked for miles. (=a very long way) | She lives
miles from nowhere (=very far from anybody else) | to drive
at 70 miles per hour → see TABLE 2 2 [the S] a race over this
distance: The mile was won by Coe. → see also MILER 3 also
miles pl. — infml a very large amount; a lot: He was miles out
in his calculations. (=they were completely wrong) | The
exam was miles too difficult. | You can see/tell a mile
away/off (=it is very clear) that she's used to getting her own
way. 4 infml go the extra mile to give more effort to
something because it is important: UN negotiators are going
the extra mile in trying to calm the strife in the area. 5 infml
run a mile to leave quickly to avoid someone or something:
I run a mile every time he comes into the room. 6 infml talk a
mile a minute to speak quickly without stopping: She
started to talk a mile a minute as soon as she arrived. 7 be
miles away BrE spoken used in order to say that someone is
not listening to what you are saying, because they are
thinking about something else: 'What do you think, Andy?'
'What? Sorry, I was miles away.' | My Dad was a real day-
dreamer – you'd be talking to him and then you'd realize he
was miles away. → see also NAUTICAL MILE
mile-age /'maɪlɪdʒ/ n 1 [C usually sing,;U] the distance that is
travelled, measured in miles: What mileage has your car
done? | What mileage does your car do per gallon? 2 [C usually
sing,;U] money paid for each mile that is travelled: He uses his
own car for business purposes, and is paid mileage/a mileage
allowance. 3 [U] infml an amount of use: The newspapers are
getting a lot of mileage out of the royal baby – there's a new
story about him every day.
mile-om-e-ter, mil-om-e-ter /maɪˈlɒmɪtər || -'lɑ:/ BrE ||
odometer AmE — n an instrument fitted in a car etc to
record the number of miles it travels
mil-er /'maɪlər/ n infml a person or horse that runs in one-mile
races
mile·stone /'maɪlstəʊn/ n 1 a stone at the side of a road,
on which is marked the number of miles to the next
town 2 an important event which changes the course of
someone's life, or of history: The invention of the wheel was
a milestone in human history.
mi·lieu /'mi:ljɜ:||mi:'ljɜ:, -'ljʊ:/ n pl. -s or -x /ljɜ:z,
ljɜ:||'ljɜ:z, 'ljʊ:z, 'ljɜ:/ [C usually sing.] fml surroundings,
especially a person's social surroundings: Meeting the local
policeman in a completely different milieu, as a fellow member
of the golf club, seemed somehow strange.
mil-i-tant /'mɪlɪtənt/ adj sometimes derog (especially of a person
or a political group) ready to fight or use force; taking an
active part in a struggle: The more militant members of the
group were in favour of expelling him. | a militant speech,
designed to rouse the crowd's anger | a militant feminist →
compare MILITARY
,Militant 'Tendency, the a very LEFT-WING group in the
British Labour Party during the 1980s
mil-i-ta-rism /'mɪlɪtərɪzəm/ n [U] usually derog belief in the
idea that a country should use armed force to get what it
wants —rist n —ristic /ˌmɪlɪtə'rɪstɪk / adj —ristically
/kli/ adv
mil-i-ta-rize also -ise BrE /'mɪlɪtəraɪz/ v [T] 1 to supply (a
country, area etc) with military forces and defences: the
militarized zone 2 to give a military character to: a milita-
rized police force
mil-i-ta-ry¹ /'mɪlɪtəri||-teri/ adj of, for, or by soldiers, armies,
or war: the providing of military aid to friendly states |
combined naval and military operations | His bearing was
very military. (=he looked and acted like a soldier) | a
military hospital | He comes of a military family. (=his father,
grandfather etc were soldiers) → compare MILITANT
military² n [the P] soldiers; the army: As the police could not
keep order in the city, the military were called in to help.
,military a'cademy n 1 a national college where people are
trained to be officers in the military forces 2 a private
school in the US that gives students military training
,military 'band n a band of BRASS, WOODWIND, and PERCUS-
SION instruments connected to a military unit, which plays
marching and concert music
,Military 'Cross, the abbrev. MC a MEDAL given to British
army officers for bravery
,military-in'dustrial complex n the military forces and
the large producers of weapons in a country or in the world,
considered as a single very powerful influence on govern-
ments
,military po'lice abbrev. MP n ['the+P] (often cap.) a special
police force formed of soldiers (military policemen), whose
job is to deal with soldiers who break army rules
,military 'service n [U] a system used in some countries by
which young men (in some countries also young women)
have to serve in the armed forces etc for a period of time,
often a year: Did you have to do military service? → see also
DRAFT, NATIONAL SERVICE
mil-i-tate /'mɪlɪteɪt/ v
militate against sthg. phr v [T] fml to act as a reason
against: The fact that he'd been in prison militated against
him when he applied for jobs. | [+v-ing] The high risks involved
in such a business venture militate against finding backers.
mi-li-tia /mɪˈlɪʃə/ n [(the)C+sing./pl. v] a body of men (militia-
men) not belonging to a regular army, but trained as soldiers
to serve only in their own country if it is attacked or in
times when there is violence and disorder in towns, cities
etc
milk¹ /mɪlk/ n [U] 1 a white liquid produced by women or
female animals for the feeding of their young, and (in the
case of cows' and goats' milk) drunk by human beings or
made into butter, cheese etc: a bottle of milk | skimmed
milk | pasteurized milk 2 a whitish liquid or juice obtained
from certain plants and trees: coconut milk 3 a land of milk
and honey lit an imaginary place where life is easy and
pleasant, with plenty of food 4 the milk of human kind-
ness lit or pomp the pity for the sufferings of others that
should be natural to human beings → see also CONDENSED
MILK, EVAPORATED MILK, SKIMMED MILK, cry over spilt milk
(CRY¹)
milk² v 1 a) [T] to take milk from (a cow, goat etc) b) [I] (of
a cow, goat etc) to give milk: This cow isn't milking very
well. 2 [T] to get money, knowledge of a secret etc from
(someone or something) by clever or dishonest means 3 [T]
to take the poison from (a snake) 4 milk something for all
its worth especially AmE to take full advantage (of a situation),