12 PHRASE You say ' I mean ' when making clearer something that you have just said. [SPOKEN ] □ It was his idea. Gordon's, I mean.
13 PHRASE You can use ' I mean ' to introduce a statement, especially one that justifies something that you have just said. [SPOKEN ] □ I'm sure he wouldn't mind. I mean, I was the one who asked him.
14 PHRASE You say I mean when correcting something that you have just said. [SPOKEN ] □ It was law or classics–I mean English or classics.
15 PHRASE If you know what it means to do something, you know everything that is involved in a particular activity or experience, especially the effect that it has on you. □ I know what it means to lose a child under such tragic circumstances.
16 PHRASE If a name, word, or phrase means something to you, you have heard it before and you know what it refers to. □ 'Oh, Gairdner,' he said, as if that meant something to him.
17 PHRASE If you say that someone means well , you mean they are trying to be kind and helpful, even though they might be causing someone problems or upsetting them. □ I know you mean well, but I can manage by myself.
18 PHRASE You use ' you mean ' in a question to check that you have understood what someone has said. □ What accident? You mean Christina's? □ 'What if I had said no?' 'About the apartment, you mean?'
19 → see also meaning , means , meant
20 to mean business → see business
21 if you know what I mean → see know
➋ mean /miː n/ (meaner , meanest )
1 ADJ If you describe someone as mean , you are being critical of them because they are unwilling to spend much money or to use very much of a particular thing. [mainly BRIT , DISAPPROVAL ] □ Don't be mean with fabric, otherwise curtains will end up looking skimpy. in AM, use cheap , stingy ● mean|ness N‑UNCOUNT □ This very careful attitude to money can sometimes border on meanness.
2 ADJ If you describe an amount as mean , you are saying that it is very small. [BRIT , DISAPPROVAL ] □ …the meanest grant possible from the local council.
3 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If someone is being mean , they are being unkind to another person, for example by not allowing them to do something. □ [+ to ] The little girls had locked themselves in upstairs because Mack had been mean to them. □ I'd feel mean saying no. ● mean|ly ADV [usu ADV with v, oft ADV adj] □ He had been behaving very meanly to his girlfriend.
4 ADJ If you describe a person or animal as mean , you are saying that they are very bad-tempered and cruel. [mainly AM ] □ …the meanest fighter in the world.
5 ADJ [usu ADJ n] If you describe a place as mean , you think that it looks poor and dirty. □ He was raised on the mean streets of the central market district of Panama City.
6 PHRASE You can use no mean in expressions such as ' no mean writer ' and ' no mean golfer ' to indicate that someone does something well. [INFORMAL , APPROVAL ] □ She was no mean performer on a variety of other instruments.
7 PHRASE You can use no mean in expressions such as ' no mean achievement ' and ' no mean task ' to indicate that someone has done something they deserve to be proud of. □ To destroy 121 enemy aircraft is no mean record.
➌ mean /miː n/
1 N‑SING [oft N n] The mean is a number that is the average of a set of numbers. □ Take a hundred and twenty values and calculate the mean. □ …the mean score for 26-year-olds.
2 → see also means USAGE mean
Don’t use ‘mean’ when you are talking about people’s opinions or beliefs. Use think
or believe
. Don’t say, for example, ‘
me|ander /miæ ndə r / (meanders , meandering , meandered )
1 VERB If a river or road meanders , it has a lot of bends, rather than going in a straight line from one place to another. □ [V prep/adv] …roads that meandered round the edges of the fields. □ [V -ing] We crossed a small iron bridge over a meandering stream. [Also V ]
2 N‑COUNT A meander is a large bend in a river.
3 VERB If you meander somewhere, you move slowly and not in a straight line. □ [V prep/adv] We meandered through a landscape of mountains, rivers, and vineyards. [Also V ]
4 VERB If a speech, account, or piece of writing meanders , it seems to move from one topic to another without any order or purpose. □ [V ] His talk appears to meander but by the end focuses attention on the true state of affairs. □ [V -ing] …a rich and meandering novel.
mean|ing ◆◇◇ /miː n I ŋ/ (meanings )
1 N‑VAR The meaning of a word, expression, or gesture is the thing or idea that it refers to or represents and which can be explained using other words. □ [+ of ] I hadn't a clue to the meaning of 'activism'. □ I became more aware of the symbols and their meanings.
2 N‑VAR The meaning of what someone says or of something such as a book or film is the thoughts or ideas that are intended to be expressed by it. □ [+ of ] Unsure of the meaning of this remark, Ryle chose to remain silent.
3 N‑UNCOUNT If an activity or action has meaning , it has a purpose and is worthwhile. □ Art has real meaning when it helps people to understand themselves. □ …a challenge that gives meaning to life.