mean
adj 1: (statistics) approximating the statistical norm or average
or expected value; "the average income in New England
is below that of the nation"; "of average height for
his age"; "the mean annual rainfall" [syn: {average},
{mean(a)}]
2: characterized by malice; "a hateful thing to do"; "in a mean
mood"; "told spiteful stories about the fat lady" [syn: {hateful},
{spiteful}]
3: having or showing a meanspirited lack of honor or morality;
"that liberal obedience without which your army would be a
base rabble"- Edmund Burke; "taking a mean advantage";
"chok'd with ambition of the meaner sort"- Shakespeare;
"something essentially vulgar and meanspirited in
politics" [syn: {base}, {meanspirited}]
4: (slang) excellent; "famous for a mean backhand"
5: marked by poverty befitting a beggar; "a beggarly existence
in the slums"; "a mean hut" [syn: {beggarly}]
6: used of persons or behavior; characterized by or indicative
of lack of generosity; "a small miserly man" [syn: {mingy},
{miserly}, {little}, {small}, {tight}]
7: used of sums of money; so small in amount as to deserve
contempt [syn: {beggarly}]
n : an average of n numbers computed by adding some function of
the numbers and dividing by some function of n
v 1: mean or intend to express or convey; "You never understand
what I mean!" "what do his words intend?" [syn: {intend}]
2: have as a logical consequence; "The water shortage means
that we have to stop taking long showers" [syn: {entail},
{imply}]
3: denote or connote; "`maison' means `house' in French"; "An
example sentence would show what this word means" [syn: {intend},
{signify}, {stand for}]
4: have in mind as a purpose; "I mean no harm"; "I only meant
to help you"; "She didn't think to harm me"; "We thought
to return early that night" [syn: {intend}, {think}]
5: have a specified degree of importance; "My ex-husband means
nothing to me"; "Happiness means everything"
6: "I'm thinking of good food when I talk about France"; "Yes,
I meant you when I complained about people who gossip!"
[syn: {think of}, {have in mind}]
7: destine or designate for a certain purpose; "These flowers
were meant for you"