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member of the CABINET after the 1997 election. In 1998 he was forced to leave his job because of a financial SCANDAL, but after a year he came back into the cabinet. In 2001 he had to leave the Cabinet again after another scandal. In 2004, he was chosen by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to become a European Commissioner.
man·di·ble /'mændɪbəl/ n tech 1 a jaw which moves, especially the lower jaw of an animal or fish, or a jawbone 2 the upper or lower part of a bird's beak 3 either of the two biting or holding parts in insects and CRABS
m & m's /em ænd 'emz/ n [P] trademark small round chocolate sweets with a hard, coloured, sugar covering. A well-known advertisement for m & m's says 'They melt in your mouth, not in your hand'.
man·do·lin /mændə'lɪn/ n a round-backed musical instrument with eight metal strings, rather like a LUTE
man·drake /'mændreɪk/ n a plant from which drugs may be made, especially those causing sleep, the root of which is in two parts, and which is said to have magic properties
man·drill /'mændrɪl/ n a large monkey like a BABOON with a brightly coloured face
M & S /em ænd 'es/ → see MARKS AND SPENCER
mane /meɪn/ n 1 the long hair on the back of a horse's neck, or around the face and neck of a lion → see picture at HORSE 2 especially humor the long thick hair on a person's head
'man·eat·er n 1 an animal or person that eats human flesh 2 derog humor a) a woman who has many lovers b) a woman with a powerful character who makes men feel afraid or foolish —man-eating adj: a man-eating lion
Man·et, Éd·ouard /'mæneɪ|mɑ:'neɪ, 'edwɑ:l-wɑ:d/ (1832-83) a French painter who greatly influenced the IMPRESSIONISTS. He is known for paintings such as Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe, Olympia, and A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.
ma·neu·ver /mə'nu:və/ n, v AmE for MANOEUVRE
ma·neu·ver·a·ble /mə'nu:vərəbəl/ adj AmE for MANOEUVRABLE
,Man for All 'Seasons, A (1960) a play by Robert Bolt about the life of Sir Thomas MORE, which was later made into a film
,Man 'Friday n 1 a character in the book ROBINSON CRUSOE by Daniel DEFOE. He is a black man who becomes Crusoe's servant and friend after Crusoe saves him from being killed by CANNIBALS (=people who eat other people). Crusoe calls him Man Friday because he meets him on a Friday. 2 a loyal and trusted male servant or helper → compare GIRL FRIDAY
man·ful /'mænfʊl/ adj brave; determined: He made manful efforts to move the heavy furniture, but failed. —ly adv
man·ga /'mæŋgə/ n [U] Japanese COMIC books. Manga comics are now also PUBLISHED in the US. The pictures in the stories are usually read from right to left in the same way as Japanese writing, and the characters often have very large eyes.
man·ga·nese /'mæŋgəni:z/ n [U] a greyish-white metal that is a simple substance (ELEMENT) used in making glass, steel etc
mange /meɪndʒ/ n [U] a skin disease of animals, especially dogs and cats, that results in the loss of areas of hair or fur → see also MANGY
man·gel·wur·zel /'mæŋgəl ˌwɜ:zəl-ˌzɜ:-/ also mangel AmE — n a vegetable with a large round root which can be eaten, often grown on farms as cattle food
man·ger /'meɪndʒə/ n a long container, open at the top, in which food is placed for horses and cattle → see also dog in the manger (DOG¹)
CULTURAL NOTE According to the Bible, Jesus was born in a STABLE and laid in a manger as a bed, because there were no empty rooms in the town his parents had travelled to. Most people in the US and UK know the CAROL (=Christmas song) about this, which starts: Away in a manger, no crib for a bed / The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head. → see also CHRISTMAS, NATIVITY
mange·tout /mɒŋ'tu:l|mɑ:ŋʒ-/ also man·getout 'pea BrE || snow pea AmE — n a sort of PEA whose covering is eaten as well as its seeds
man·gle¹ /'mæŋgəl/ v [T] 1 [often pass.] to tear or cut to pieces; crush: After the accident they tried to identify the victims, but the bodies were too badly mangled to be recognized. 1 (fig.) The newspaper gave a very mangled version (=full of mistakes) of what happened. 2 to pass (clothes etc) through a mangle
mangle² n a machine with rollers turned by a handle between which water is pressed from clothes, sheets etc that are passed through, especially of a kind used before modern electric washing machines were invented → compare WRINGER
man·go /'mæŋgəʊ/ n pl. -goes or -gos a tropical fruit with a thin skin and sweet yellow-coloured flesh around a long hard seed → see picture at FRUIT
man·grove /'mæŋgrəv/ n a tropical tree which grows on muddy land and near water and puts down new roots from its branches: a mangrove swamp
man·gy /'meɪndʒi/ adj 1 suffering from the disease of MANGE 2 infml of bad appearance because of loss of hair, as in MANGE: a mangy carpet (=old and with bare areas) —ily adv
man·han·dle /'mænhændl/ v [T] 1 to move by using the force of the body: We manhandled the piano up the stairs. 2 derog to handle (a person) roughly, using force: He complained that the guard manhandled him unnecessarily.
Man·hat·tan /mæn'hætən/ an island and BOROUGH of New York City in New York Bay, between the Hudson River and the East River
CULTURAL NOTE Manhattan is the business and CULTURAL centre of New York City. The business area is mainly on Wall Street at the southern end of Manhattan, where the New York Stock Exchange is, and where the World Trade Center used to be before it was destroyed by TERRORISTS on 11 September 2001. Fifth Avenue, in the centre of Manhattan, is known for having many expensive shops and DEPARTMENT STORES. There are many theatres on or near Broadway, and Manhattan has several important MUSEUMS. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is on the edge of Central Park, a very large park in the middle of Manhattan Island. Some parts of Harlem, which is north of Central Park, are poor with cheap houses and apartments, but the rest of Manhattan is very expensive to live in. When people say that they have visited New York, they often mean that they have been to Manhattan. The Manhattan SKYLINE (=the way that the city's many tall buildings look from a distance) is world-famous. Manhattan's famous SKYSCRAPERS (=tall buildings) include the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the United Nations Headquarters. The Twin Towers were two of Manhattan's most famous skyscrapers, but they were destroyed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on 11 September, 2001. → see also GREENWICH VILLAGE, NEW YORK CITY, TIMES SQUARE
Man'hattan ,Project, the the secret US scientific plan, which was started in 1942, to develop an ATOM BOMB → see also LOS ALAMOS
man·hole /'mænhəʊl/ n an opening, usually with a cover, on or near a road, through which someone can go down to a place where underground pipes and wires can be examined, repaired etc
man·hood /'mænhʊd/ n [U] 1 the condition or period of time of being a man, as opposed to being a boy or female 2 fml or lit all the men of a nation: America lost the flower (=best part) of its young manhood in the war. 3 euph the sexual powers of a man → compare WOMANHOOD
man·hour /'mæn-aʊə/ n (a measure of) the amount of work done by one person in one hour
man·hunt /'mænhʌnt/ n a search for a wanted person, especially a criminal: The police are conducting an extensive manhunt for the murderer.
ma·ni·a /'meɪniə/ n 1 C[for;U] 1 tech a (dangerous) disorder of the mind: Kleptomania is a mania for stealing things. 2 infml (often in comb.) a desire or interest so strong that it seems mad: She has a mania for (driving) fast cars. | He's got motorcycle mania. | discomania
ma·ni·ac /'meɪniæk/ n 1 a person (thought to be) suffering