873
Megan's Law
Mediterranean coast, such as Greece, Spain, Italy, and south-
ern France, are very popular with British tourists.
—Mediterranean /ˌmedtəˈreɪniən/ adj: a Mediterranean
climate
me·di·um¹ /ˈmiːdiəm/ adj of middle size, amount, quality,
value etc: a medium-sized apple | of medium height | a
medium wine (=not too sweet or too dry)
medium² n pl. -dia /-diə/ or -diums 1 a method for giving
information; form of art: He writes stories, but the theatre is
his favourite medium. | Television can be a medium for giving
information and opinions, for amusing people, and for teach-
ing them. → see also MEDIA 2 a substance in which objects
or living things exist, or through which a force travels: A
fish in water is in its natural medium. | Sound travels through
the medium of air: 3 a middle position: There's a happy
medium (=a correct average course of action) between eating
all the time and not eating at all! 4 the medium is the
message quote a phrase used by Marshall MCLUHAN meaning
that the way in which people receive information has more
influence on what they think than the information itself
medium³ n pl. -diums a person who claims to have the
power to receive messages from the spirits of the dead
,medium 'dry adj (of wine) having only slight sweetness and
fruit taste → see also DRY¹
,medium of ex'change n something commonly accepted
in exchange for goods and services and representing a
standard of value
'medium ,wave written abbrev. MW n [U] radio broadcasting
or receiving on waves of between about 150 and 550 metres
in length → compare LONG WAVE, SHORT WAVE
med-lar /ˈmedlər/ n (a small tree with) a fruit like a wild
apple, eaten when partly decayed
med-ley /ˈmedli/ n 1 [(of)] a mass or crowd of different types
mixed together: a medley of different nationalities 2 a piece
of music made up of parts of other musical works: a medley
of the Beatles' greatest hits 3 a swimming race in which the
swimmers swim distances in four different swimming
STROKES (BACKSTROKE, BREASTSTROKE, BUTTERFLY, and FREE-
STYLE)
'med school n AmE infml for MEDICAL SCHOOL
Me·du·sa /mɪˈdjuːzəl-ˈduːsə/ in ancient Greek MYTHOLOGY,
a woman who had snakes instead of hair and turned every-
one who looked at her into stone. She was killed by Perseus,
who used his shiny SHIELD (=a metal object carried by
soldiers to protect themselves) as a mirror so that he did not
have to look at her directly, and cut off her head. → see also
GORGON
Med-way, the /ˈmedweɪ/ a river in Kent in southeast
England which flows through the Medway Towns (Roches-
ter, Gillingham, and Chatham) and joins the River Thames
near the sea
meek /miːk/ adj 1 (of people or behaviour) gentle and
uncomplaining; accepting others' actions and opinions
without argument: She won't object - she's so meek and
mild. | He's as meek as a lamb. 2 blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth saying from the Bible (a phrase
used when talking about quiet, gentle people achieving suc-
cess, wealth or power) ——ly adv: He nodded meekly. ——ness
n [U]
meer-schaum /ˈmɪəʃɔmˈmɪər-/ n a pipe for smoking
tobacco, made of hard white clay
meet¹ /miːt/ v met /met/ 1 [I,T] to come together (with), by
chance or arrangement: Let's meet for dinner. | You'll never
guess who I met today - my old teacher! We haven't met for 20
years. 2 [I,T] to get to know or be introduced (to) for the
first time: Come to the party and meet some interesting
people. | We met at Ann's party, didn't we, but I don't remem-
ber your name. 3 [I] to gather together: The whole school met
to hear the speech. 4 [T] to be there at the arrival of: I'll meet
you off the train. | The taxi will meet the train. 5 [I] to join:
My skirt won't meet round my waist. | The two roads meet just
north of Birmingham. 6 [I,T] to play against (an opponent
in sport): Germany and Spain will meet (=play against each
other) in the soccer cup final. 7 [I] to touch: Their lips met in
a kiss. | The two cars met (=crashed) head-on. 8 [T] to
experience (something unpleasant) by chance: She met her
death (=was killed) in a plane crash. 9 [T(with)] to answer,
especially in opposition: His speech was met with cries of
anger. | (fig.) I couldn't meet his eyes. (=look back at
him) 10 [T] to satisfy (a need, demand etc): Does the hotel
meet your expectations? | Their new model of car is so popular
that they have had to open a new factory to meet the
demand. 11 [T] to pay: Can you meet your debts? 12 meet
someone halfway to make an agreement which partly
satisfies the demands of both sides 13 more (in/to some-
thing) than meets the eye hidden facts or reasons (in or for
something): The job seems easy, but there's more to it than
meets the eye. (=it is actually quite difficult) 14 when shall
we three meet again, in thunder, lightning or in rain? quote
a phrase from Shakespeare's play Macbeth said by the three
WITCHES → see also MACBETH 15 we can't go on meeting
like this quote a phrase originally used by unhappy lovers in
a play, and now used humorously → see also make ends
meet (END¹)
meet up phr v [I(with)] infml to meet, especially by informal
arrangement: Let's meet up after the play.
meet with sbdy./sthg. phr v [T] 1 to experience (especially
something unpleasant) by chance: I met with some difficul-
ties when I tried to enter the country. | They met with an
accident on their way back. 2 to have a meeting with: Our
representatives met with several heads of state to discuss the
price of oil.
meet² n 1 (in Britain) a gathering of people, especially on
horses with HOUNDS (=hunting dogs) to hunt foxes 2 espe-
cially AmE a meeting of people, especially for sports events: a
track meet
meet³ adj [(for)] old use or bibl suitable; right
,meet-and-'greet n 1 an event that is organized for famous
musicians, writers, artists etc to meet and talk to their FANS:
There will be a meet-and-greet after the show. 2 a service that
sends people to greet and help a person or group when they
arrive at an airport 3 an event in which parents go to their
child's school and meet the teachers and other people who
work there
meet-ing /ˈmiːtɪŋ/ n 1 [C] a gathering of people for a
purpose: I was unable to attend the union meeting. | The
chairman declared the meeting open. 2 [the+sing./pl. v] the
people in such a gathering: What has/have the meeting
decided? 3 [C usually sing.] the coming together of two or
more people, by chance or arrangement: Our meeting in
Tokyo was quite by chance. 4 meeting of minds agreement:
Let's see if we can have a meeting of minds about the schedule
for the rest of the month.
meet-ing-house /ˈmiːtɪŋhaʊs/ n pl. -houses /ˌhaʊzɪz/ a
place for religious meetings, especially of NONCONFORMISTS
such as Quakers. There is no leader in a meeting house and
each person can say prayers or talk about the Bible as they
wish, or pray silently. → compare CHURCH
mega- → see WORD FORMATION TABLE
meg-a-bucks /ˈmegəbʌks/ n [P] infml a large amount of
money: The house has dry rot and needs a new roof — we're
talking about megabucks.
meg-a-byte /ˈmegəbaɪt/ abbrev. MB n a unit for measuring
computer information, equal to 1,024 KILOBYTES, and used
less exactly to mean one million BYTES
meg-a-death /ˈmegədeθ/ n [U] one million deaths, used
when talking about the possible effects of a NUCLEAR war
meg-a-hertz /ˈmegəhɜːtsɪl-ˌɜː-/ written abbrev. MHz also
meg-a-cycle /ˈmegəˌsaɪkəl/ n a million HERTZ
meg-a-lith /ˈmegəlɪθ/ n a large tall stone usually standing in
an open place which was put up before historical times,
perhaps as a religious sign. There are many megaliths or
groups of megaliths in Britain. The most famous are the
stone circles at Stonehenge and Avebury.
meg-a-lith-ic /ˌmegəlɪθɪk/ adj 1 of megaliths: a mega-
lithic monument 2 of the time when these stones were put
up: the megalithic age
meg-a-lo-ma-ni-a /ˌmegələʊˈmeɪniə/ n [U] the belief that
one is more important, powerful etc than one really is
——niac /niæk/ adj, n
meg-a-lo-pol-is /ˌmegəˈlɒpəlɪsɪl-ˈlɑː-/ n a very large URBAN
(=city) area, especially one that has come about by nearby
cities growing and meeting one another
Meg-an's Law /ˈmegənz ˌlɔː/ a US law that says parents