Micawber, Mr 882
Mi-caw-ber, Mr /mɪˈkɔːbə/ a character in the book David Copperfield (1849-50) by Charles DICKENS, who is believed to be based on Dickens's own father. He is put in prison because he owes money and cannot pay it, but he is always happy and spends any money he gets on himself, confident that 'something will turn up' to end his problems. He is also remembered for saying, 'Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds, nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.' By this he meant that if you spend slightly less than you earn you will be happy, but if you spend slightly more than you earn you will be unhappy.
mice /maɪs/ 1 pl. of MOUSE (1,2) 2 the best laid plans/schemes of mice and men gang aft a-gley a slightly changed phrase from a poem by Robert Burns, meaning that even very carefully made plans often go wrong
Mi-chael /ˈmaɪkəl/ in the Old Testament of the Bible, an ARCHANGEL (=a good spirit of the highest rank who lives with God in Heaven) → see also GABRIEL, RAPHAEL¹
Michael, George (1963-) a British singer and SONGWRITER who was in the group Wham! from 1982 to 1986, and who has since made many successful records on his own, including Careless Whisper and Freeek
Mich-el-mas /ˈmɪkəlməs/ n [C, U] 29th September, a Christian holy day in honour of Saint Michael
Mi-chel-an-ge-lo /ˌmaɪkəlˈændʒələʊ/ (1475-1564) an Italian painter, SCULPTOR, and ARCHITECT (=someone who designs buildings) of the RENAISSANCE period, considered to be one of the greatest artists who ever lived. He is known especially for his STATUE of David (an ancient king of Israel) and for painting the ceiling of the SISTINE CHAPEL in Rome with scenes from the Old Testament of the Bible, including the CREATION of ADAM.
Mich-e-lin Guide /ˈmɪʃəlɪn ˌgaɪd, ˈmiːʃ-/ also Michelin trademark a type of GUIDEBOOK produced by the French company Michelin, which contains information for tourists visiting places in Europe and the US. The green guides contain maps and information about interesting places to visit, especially in Europe and the US, and the red guides contain lists of restaurants and hotels in Europe, which are given one, two, or three stars, according to a system for judging their quality. A restaurant with three Michelin stars is regarded as extremely good, and very few restaurants achieve this.
'Michelin Man n a drawing of a small, fat man made out of tyres used in advertisements by the French tyre company Michelin. If someone is wearing a lot of thick clothes that make them look fat, they sometimes say that they look like a Michelin Man.
Mich-e-lob /ˈmɪkələʊb/ trademark a type of beer commonly sold in the US and also available in the UK
Mich-e-ner, James /ˈmɪtʃənər/ (1907-97) a US writer known especially for his popular novels such as Sayonara (1954) and Hawaii (1959), which look at the history of a place over a long period of time by following the events in one or more families for several GENERATIONS
Mich-i-gan /ˈmɪʃgən/ 1 written abbrev. MI a state in north central US, an industrial area known especially for producing cars 2 Lake Michigan a large lake in north central US, one of the GREAT LAKES
Mick /mɪk/ n BrE infml an offensive name for an Irishman. Mick is a short form of Michael, a common name in Ireland.
mick-ey /ˈmɪki/ n 1 also mickey finn /ˌmɪki ˈfɪn/ —slang (often cap.) an alcoholic drink to which a drug has been added which will make the drinker unconscious 2 take the mickey (out of someone) infml especially BrE to make someone feel foolish by copying them or laughing at them
Mickey 'Mouse¹ trademark a mouse in CARTOON films, invented by Walt Disney in 1928. Mickey Mouse is one of Disney's best-known characters and is often used as a symbol of the company.
Mickey Mouse² adj [A] a Mickey Mouse organization, company, job etc is small and not at all important, and often not very good
Mickey 'Mouse Club, the trademark a US television programme for children in the 1950s. At the beginning and end of each show, a group of children called Mouseketeers sang a song spelling out the name 'Mickey Mouse'.
micro- → see WORD FORMATION TABLE
mi-crobe /ˈmaɪkrəʊb/ n not tech a living thing that is so small that it cannot be seen without a microscope, and that may cause disease; bacterium → compare VIRUS
mi-cro-bi-ol-o-gy /ˌmaɪkrəʊbaɪˈɒlədʒi||-ˈɑːl-/ n [U] the scientific study of very small living things, such as bacteria —gist n —gical /-ˌbaɪəˈlɒdʒɪkəl||-ˈlɑː-/ adj
mi-cro-brew /ˈmaɪkrəʊˌbruː/ n [C,U] AmE beer made by a MICROBREWERY, especially a dark strong beer
mi-cro-brew-ery /ˈmaɪkrəˌbruːəri/ n a small BREWERY (=a place where beer is made) in the US, that make small quantities of special types of beer. Microbreweries started to become popular in the Pacific Northwest in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and are now popular in many parts of the US.
mi-cro-chip /ˈmaɪkrəˌtʃɪp/ n a CHIP
mi-cro-cli-mate /ˈmaɪkrəʊˌklaɪmət/ n the weather patterns in one small area, which are different from the weather patterns in the surrounding area: The valley has its own unique microclimate.
mi-cro-com-put-er /ˈmaɪkrəʊkəmˌpjuːtə/ n a small computer
mi-cro-cos-m /ˈmaɪkrəʊkɒzəm||-kɑː-/ n [φ] something small and self-contained that represents all the qualities, activities etc of something larger: In this fish tank is a microcosm of life on the sea bed; it shows the sea bed in microcosm. → compare ¹ MACROCOSM —ic /ˌmaɪkrəˈkɒzmk||-ˈkɑːz-/ adj
mi-cro-ec-o-nom-ics /ˌmaɪkrəʊekəˈnɒmɪks, ˌ...-ˈiːkə-||-ˈnɑː-/ n [S] study of the economics of a single industry, product, or other feature within a larger system → compare MACROECONOMICS —microeconomic adj
mi-cro-e-lec-tron-ics /ˌmaɪkrəʊɪlekˈtrɒnɪks||-ˈtrɑː-/ n [S] the branch of electronics which concerns the production of very small PRINTED CIRCUITS and COMPONENTS. —microelectronic adj
mi-cro-fiche /ˈmaɪkrəfɪʃ/ n pl. -fiche or -fiches [C,U] a sheet of film on which photographs of especially printed pages can be stored in a very small size. The pages can be read by using a microfiche reader.
mi-cro-film¹ /ˈmaɪkrəfɪlm/ n [C,U] (a narrow length of) film for photographing a page, a letter etc, in a very small size so that it can be easily stored
microfilm² v [T] to photograph (something) on microfilm
mi-cro-light /ˈmaɪkrəlaɪt/ n [C] a very light and small aircraft usually with a wing like a HANG GLIDER for one or two people
mi-cro-man-age /ˈmaɪkrəʊˌmændʒ/ v [T] to organize and control all the details of another person's work in a way that they think is annoying —micromanagement n [U]
mi-cro-mesh /ˈmaɪkrəmeʃ/ n [U] BrE very fine net material used especially for making women's tights
mi-crom-e-ter /maɪˈkrɒmɪtə||-ˈkrɑː-/ n an instrument for measuring very small objects
mi-cron /ˈmaɪkrɒn||-krɑːn/ n one millionth of a metre
Mi-cro-ne-si-a /ˌmaɪkrəʊˈniːziə||-ˈniːʒə/ a group of more than 2,000 small islands in the west Pacific Ocean, including the Caroline Islands, the Marshall Islands, and Kiribati Population: 108,143 (2003) —Micronesian n, adj
mi-cro-or-gan-ism /ˌmaɪkrəʊˈɔːgənɪzəm||-ˈɔr-/ n a bacterium; MICROBE
mi-cro-phone /ˈmaɪkrəfəʊn/ also mike infml — n an instrument for receiving sound waves and changing them into electrical waves, used in broadcasting or recording sound (e.g. in radio, telephones etc) or for making sounds louder: The singer used a microphone so that everyone in the hall could hear him. → compare MEGAPHONE
mi-cro-pro-ces-sor /ˌmaɪkrəʊˈprəʊsesə||-ˈprɑː-/ n a PROCESSOR
mi-cro-scope /ˈmaɪkrəskəʊp/ n a scientific instrument that makes extremely small things look larger, so that they can be seen properly and examined scientifically: He stained