mass

plural masses

1. Matter, material.
   1. countablephysicaluncountableA quantity of matter cohering so as to make one body, or an aggregation of particles or things which collectively make one body or quantity, usually of considerable size.

      […] and because a deep mass of continual sea is slower stirred to rage.

      1821 [1582], George Buchanan, The History of Scotland, from the Earliest Accounts of that Nation, to the Reign of King James VI, volume 1 (in English), translation of Rerum Scoticarum Historia by an unnamed translator, page 133

      1 more example

      And if it were not for theſe Principles the Bodies of the Earth, Planets, Comets, Sun, and all things in them would grow cold and freeze, and become inactive Maſſes ; […].

      1718 [1704], Isaac Newton, Opticks, 2nd edition

   2. countableobsoletephysicaluncountablePrecious metal, especially gold or silver.

      Right in the midst the Goddesse selfe did stand / Upon an altar of some costly masse […].

      1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.10

   3. countablephysicaluncountablenatural sciencesA measure of the inertia of a mass of matter, one of four fundamental properties of matter. SI unit of mass: kilogram.
   4. countablephysicaluncountablemedicineA medicinal substance made into a cohesive, homogeneous lump, of consistency suitable for making pills.

      blue mass

   5. countablephysicaluncountablemedicineA palpable or visible abnormal globular structure.

      Near-synonym: lump

      Synonyms: lump

   6. countablephysicaluncountablebodybuildingExcess body mass, especially in the form of muscle hypertrophy.

      After all, muscle maniacs go "ga ga" over mass no matter how it's presented.

      1988, Steve Holman, “Christian Conquers Columbus”, in Ironman, volume 47, number 6, pages 28–34

2. countableuncountableA large quantity; a sum.

   For though he had spent a huge mass of treasure in transporting his army, […].

   1869, Alexander George Richey, Lectures on the History of Ireland: Down to A. D. 1534, page 204

   1 more example

   […]he hath discovered to me the way to five or six of the richest mines which the Spaniard hath, and whence all the mass of gold that comes into Spain in effect is drawn.

   1829, Sir Walter Raleigh, The Works of Sir Walter Ralegh, Kt, volume VIII

   1. countableuncountableBulk; magnitude; body; size.

      Witness this army of such mass and charge / Led by a delicate and tender prince,

      c. 1599-1601, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, act 4, scene 4

   2. countableuncountableThe principal part; the main body.

      Night closed upon the pursuit, and aided the mass of the fugitives in their escape.

      1881, Thucydides, translated by Benjamin Jowett, Thucydides translated into English, volume 1, page 310

   3. countableuncountableA large body of individuals, especially persons.

      A mass of ships converged on the beaches of Dunkirk.

      2 more examples

      The mass of spectators didn't see the infraction on the field.

      Generals gathered in their masses / Just like witches at black masses

      1970, “War Pigs”, in Paranoid, performed by Black Sabbath

   4. countablein pluraluncountableThe lower classes of persons.

      The masses are revolting.

present singular third person masses · participle present massing · participle past massed · past massed

1. ergativeTo form or collect into a mass; to form into a collective body; to assemble.

   Every bend on the hill had acted like a funnel to mass them together in this peculiar way.

   1857, Edward Henry Nolan, The Illustrated History of the War against Russia, Parts 93-111, page 432

   2 more examples

   They would unavoidably mix up the whole of these declarations, and mass them together, although the Judge might direct the Jury not to do so.

   1829, William Burke, John Macnee, Trial of William Burke and Helen M'Dougal: Before the High Court of Judiciary, William Hare

   Where there is too great a repetition of forms, light and shade will break them up or mass them together.

   1869, H. P. Robinson, Pictorial Effect in Photography: Being Hints on Composition and Chiariscuro for Photographers

   Synonyms: round up, weigh

comparative masser · superlative massest

1. not comparableusuallyInvolving a mass of things; concerning a large quantity or number.

   There is evidence of mass extinctions in the distant past.

   3 more examples

   The national liberation movement had not yet developed to a sufficiently mass scale.

   1988, V. V. Zagladin, Vitaly Baskakov, International Working Class and Communist Movement: Historical Record, 1830s to Mid-1940s, page 236

   With perhaps unprecedented magnitude and clarity, Auschwitz brings theologians and philosophers face to face with the facts of suffering on an incredibly mass scale, with issues poignantly raised concerning the absence of divine intervention or the inadequacies of divine power or benevolence; […].

   1989, Creighton Peden, Larry E. Axel (editors), God, Values, and Empiricism: Issues in Philosophical Theology, page 2

   The air arms did more than provide the warring nations with individual heroes, for their individual exploits occurred within the context of an increasingly mass aerial effort in a war of the masses.

   2010, John Horne, A Companion to World War I, page 159

2. not comparableusuallyInvolving a mass of people; of, for, or by the masses.

   Mass unemployment resulted from the financial collapse.

   5 more examples

   Every agency is sold on use of mass media today — or at least, it thinks it is — and what can be "masser" than television?

   1958, Child Welfare, volume 37, page 2

   While agreeing with Bell on the unlikelihood that any fully mass — in the sense of atomized and alienated — society has ever existed,⁵ I believe that at any point in time, in any social system, some elements may be characterized as "masses."

   1970, James Wilson White, The Sōkagakkai and Mass Society, page 3

   Undoubtedly this is the case; at least it is "masser" than in Pinchot's time.

   1974, Edward Abraham Cohn, The Political Economy of Environmental Enhancement, page 91

   But it also highlights the changes that have taken place in gay and AIDS activism, and the way that a formerly mass movement has been recast.

   1999 December, Sara Miles, “Rebel with a Cause”, in Out, page 132

   The director didn't make the images up; they're there, but in putting that one slice of gay life into the massest of mass media — the amoral promiscuity, the drug and alcohol abuse, the stereotyped flamboyance and campiness, the bitchy queeniness and flimsy values — something very dangerous happens […]

   2000 November 21, Howie Klein, “Queer as role models”, in The Advocate, number 825, page 9

plural masses

1. ChristianityThe Eucharist, now especially in Roman Catholicism.
2. ChristianityCelebration of the Eucharist.
3. broadlyChristianityThe main kind of church service, in some denominations.

   She went to mass every Sunday for many years, and when she retired, she took to going on some weekdays, too.

4. usuallyChristianityThe sacrament of the Eucharist.
5. A musical setting of parts of the mass.

present singular third person masses · participle present massing · participle past massed · past massed

1. intransitiveobsoleteTo celebrate mass.

   massing priests

   [1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page)

plural Masses

1. countableuncountableCatholicismThe principal liturgical service of the Church, encompassing both a scripture service (Liturgy of the Word) and a eucharistic service (Liturgy of the Eucharist), which includes the consecration and oblation (offering) of the host and wine.
2. countableuncountableA similar ceremony offered by a number of Christian churches.
3. countableuncountableentertainmentA musical composition set to portions, or all, of the Mass.

1. abbreviationAbbreviation of Massachusetts.

   the Mass Pike

2. alternativeAlternative form of Mas.