man

plural men

1. An adult male human.

   The show is especially popular with middle-aged men.

   3 more examples

   The king is but a man, as I am; the violet smells to him as it doth to me.

   1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]

   “I want you to know that I hate you, that I think you are a cur, and that I'll never, never speak to you again. Oh, I don't dare to say what I think of you, you — man!”

   1889, Rudyard Kipling, “A Wayside Comedy”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 75

   “[…]it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”

   1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

   1. collectiveAll human males collectively: mankind.

      Unsurprisingly, if modern man is a sort of camera, modern woman is a picture.

      2011, Eileen Gray and the Design of Sapphic Modernity: Staying In, page 109

      1 more example

      THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

      1776 December 19, Thomas Paine, The American Crisis

   2. An adult male who belongs to a particular group: an employee, a representative, etc.

      When President Roosevelt goes walking in the country about Washington he is always accompanied by two Secret Service men.

      1909, Harper's Weekly, volume 53, page iii

      1 more example

      "And they're very good people, I assure you — he's a Harvard man." It was the first time Milly had met on intimate terms a graduate of a large university.

      1913, Robert Herrick, One Woman's Life, page 46

   3. An adult male who has, to an eminent degree, qualities considered masculine, such as strength, integrity, and devotion to family; a mensch.

      He’s more a man than any pair of rats of you in this here house[…]

      1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “In The Enemy’s Camp”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part VI (Captain Silver), page 234

      1 more example

      I had the opportunity to marry one of them but wasn't mature enough to be a man and marry her and be close to the[…]children and raise them[…].

      2011, Timothy Shephard, Can We Help Us?: Growing Up Bi-Racial in America, →ISBN, page 181

   4. An adult or adolescent male servant. Anyone from a right-hand man (high-ranking assistant) to a low-ranking servant.
2. datedformalA human, a person regardless of gender or sex, usually an adult.

   every man for himself

   5 more examples

   […]a man cannot make him laugh.

   c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]

   Recompence to no man euill for euill.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 12:17

   No man is an Iland, intire of it ſelfe; euery man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; […]

   1624, John Donne, “17. Meditation”, in Deuotions upon Emergent Occasions, and Seuerall Steps in My Sicknes: […], London: […] A[ugustine] M[atthews] for Thomas Iones, →OCLC, pages 415–416

   A man would expect, in so very ancient a town of Italy, to find some considerable antiquities; but all they have to show of this nature is an old Rostrum of a Roman ship, that stands over the door of their arsenal.

   c. 1700, Joseph Addison, Monaco, Genoa, &c., page 9

   THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

   1776 December 19, Thomas Paine, The American Crisis

   1. collectivedatedformalAll humans collectively; mankind, humankind, humanity.

      We are striving to forge our union with purpose. To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.

      2021 January 20, Amanda Gorman, The Hill We Climb

      5 more examples

      How did God create man? God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.

      1647, Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 10

      THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

      1776 December 19, Thomas Paine, The American Crisis

      This consideration must surely tell us that all living things were not made for man. Many of them have no relation to him. The cycle of their existence has gone on independently of his, and is disturbed or broken by every advance in man’s intellectual development; and their happiness and enjoyments, their loves and hates, their struggles for existence, their vigorous life and early death, would seem to be immediately related to their own well-being and perpetuation alone[.]

      1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 224

      Academics who study Aboriginal languages are […] contributing to Man’s search for knowledge, a search that interests most people even if they are not personally involved in it.

      1991, Barry J. Blake, Australian Aboriginal Languages: A General Introduction, page 75

      Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless.

      2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845

      Synonyms: Man

3. anthropologyA member of the genus Homo, especially of the species Homo sapiens.

   The evidence suggests that close relatives of early man, in lineages that later became extinct, also were able to use tools.

   1990, The Almanac of Science and Technology, →ISBN, page 68

   1 more example

   THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

   1776 December 19, Thomas Paine, The American Crisis

4. A male person, usually an adult; a (generally adult male) sentient being, whether human, supernatural, elf, alien, etc.

   God's a good man.

   1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]

   4 more examples

   For God is holde a ryghtwys man.

   c. 1500, “A Gest of Robyn Hode”, in Child Ballads

   Expect: But was the devil a proper man, gossip? / As fine a gentleman of his inches as ever I saw trusted to the stage, or any where else.

   1609 December (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Epicoene, or The Silent Woman. A Comœdie. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)

   Clearing a space between the tables, the men tested their prowess against one another with feats of wrestling and archery and bouts with quarterstaves. Two of the elves, a man and a woman, demonstrated their skill with swordplay—[…]

   2008, Christopher Paolini, Brisingr: Or The Seven Promises of Eragon Shadeslayer and Saphira Bjartskular - Inheritance Book Three, →ISBN, page 549

   There was a pair of burly dwarves – a woman and a man – bearing the markings of the formidable Thane Guards.

   2014, Oisin McGann, Kings of the Realm: Cruel Salvation, Penguin UK, →ISBN

5. obsoleteuncommonuncountableManliness; the quality or state of being manly.

   Methought he bare himself in such a fashion, / So full of man, and sweetness in his carriage, /[…]

   1598, Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Euery Man in His Humour. A Comœdie. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)

6. A husband.

   I pronounce that they are man and wife.

   1549 March 7, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilers, The Booke of the Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacramentes, […], London: […] Edowardi Whitchurche […], →OCLC

   1 more example

   In the next place, every wife ought to answer for her man.

   1715, Joseph Addison, The Freeholder

   Synonyms: baron, his lordship, hubby, husband, lord and master, old man

7. A male lover; a boyfriend.

   Stay away from my man!

8. Used as the last element of a compound.
   1. A male enthusiast or devotee; a male who is very fond of or devoted to a specified kind of thing.

      Some people prefer apple pie, but me, I’m a cherry pie man.

   2. A person, usually male, who has duties or skills associated with a specified thing.

      I wanted to be a guitar man on a road tour, but instead I’m a flag man on a road crew.

9. A person, usually male, who can fulfill one's requirements with regard to a specified matter.

   "She's the man for the job."

   2007, Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night, →ISBN, page 553

   2 more examples

   Joanie volunteered, of course — if any dirty job is on offer requiring running, she's your man —

   2008, Soccer Dad: A Father, a Son, and a Magic Season, →ISBN, page 148

   He also owns the only backhoe tractor on Elbow Cay, so whenever anyone needs a cistern dug, he's their man.

   2012, The Island Caper: A Jake Lafferty Action Novel, →ISBN, page 34

10. historicalA vassal; a subject.

    all the king's men

    3 more examples

    Like master, like man.

    The vassal, or tenant, kneeling, ungirt, uncovered, and holding up his hands between those of his lord, professed that he did become his man from that day forth, of life, limb, and earthly honour.

    c. 1700s, William Blackstone

    No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.

    1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 46

11. A piece or token used in board games such as backgammon.

    The white men are always put on that side of the board which commences by row I, and the black men are placed opposite.

    1883, Henry Richter, Chess Simplified!, page 4

    1 more example

    […] a short analysis will undoubtedly convince the solver than the queen is the most likely man to make the keymove. The greatest difficulty undoubtedly will be in finding the second move continuations.

    1961, Kenneth S. Howard, How to Solve Chess Problems, page 137

    Synonyms: meeple, piece, token

12. video gamesOne of the player's chances to play, lost when the player's character dies or when certain mistakes are made.

    Most machines are set to award you an extra man after 8000 points, and then after each additional 14.000 points.

    1983, William Brohaugh, “Q*Bert: A player's guide”, in Video & Arcade Games, volume 1, number 2, page 31

    Synonyms: life

13. A term of familiar address often implying on the part of the speaker some degree of authority, impatience, or haste.

    Come on, man, we've got no time to lose!

    1 more example

    Eternal Life is now on my trail / Got my red glitter coffin, man, just need one last nail / While all these ugly gentlemen play out their foolish games / There's a flaming red horizon that screams our names / And as your fantasies are broken in two / Did you really think this bloody road would pave the way for you? / You better turn around and blow your kiss hello to life eternal, angel / Racist everyman, what have you done? / Man, you've made a killer of your unborn son / Crown my fear your king at the point of a gun / All I want to do is love everyone

    1995, “Eternal Life”, in Grace (Hard Rock), performed by Jeff Buckley, United States

14. A term of familiar address usually reserved for other adult males. It works both with ones whose name is known and ones whose name is unknown.

    Near-synonyms: my man, bro, brother

    2 more examples

    Hey, man, how's it goin'? I haven't seen you in months! [they know each other's name]

    Hey, man, thanks for holding the door! [they don't know each other's name, and it doesn't matter]

15. hobbiesA player on whom another is playing, with the intent of limiting their attacking impact.

    The second arrived three minutes later and was all Saka's own work, the Arsenal winger turning away from his man on the edge of the area and curling a superb effort beyond the reach of Anatoliy Trubin and into the top corner.

    2023 March 26, Phil McNulty, “England 2-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport

    1 more example

    2018 Dinny Navaratnam, Andrews will learn from experience: Fagan Brisbane Lions, 30 July 2018. Accessed 6 August 2018. "It was a brutal return to football for Brisbane Lions defender Harris Andrews as his man Tom Hawkins booted seven goals but Lions Coach Chris Fagan said the team's defensive faults, rather than the backman's, allowed the big Cat to dominate."

16. slanggovernmentA soldier below the rank of a non-commissioned officer.

1. Used to place emphasis upon something or someone; sometimes, but not always, when actually addressing a man.

   Man, that was a great catch!

   3 more examples

   "What happened to your eye?" she says. "Ice pick, Bayonne, 1985," he says. "Any other questions?" "Sorry, man, I was just asking."

   2011, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, Penguin Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 160

   The 19 meandering minutes of Dark Star are attractive enough but, man, they go on, while poor Creedence Clearwater Revival – headliners, with Bad Moon Rising still in the charts – are watching the clock tick in the wings.

   2019 August 15, Bob Stanley, “'Groovy, groovy, groovy': listening to Woodstock 50 years on – all 38 discs”, in The Guardian

   For quotations using this term, see Citations:man.

1. Multicultural London EnglishpersonalpronounslangUsed to refer to oneself or one's group: I, we; construed in the third person.

   Man's got some new creps.

   4 more examples

   [Sully:] If it weren’t for that snake […] Man wouldn’t even be in this mess right now.

   2011, Top Boy

   before I got arrested man paid for my own ticket to go Jamaica you know . but I’ve never paid to go on no holiday before this time I paid (Dexter, MLE)

   2013, Jenny Cheshire, “Grammaticalisation in social context: The emergence of a new English pronoun”, in Journal of Sociolinguistics, volume 17, number 5, page 609

   The girl told me, "take off your jacket" / I said, "Babe, man's not hot" (never hot)

   2017 September 22, “Man's Not Hot”performed by Big Shaq [Michael Dapaah]

   Blood I swear she just gave man extra chicken? Two fat pieces of chicken.

   2017, Joseph Barnes Phillips, Big Foot ...and Tiny Little Heartstrings

2. Multicultural London EnglishpersonalpronounslangYou; construed in the third person.

   Man thinks I was born yesterday.

   1 more example

   Oh, come on. Help a brother out. People see you coppin', might inspire them. Look, I know you ain't payin' bills right now. Man must have bare peas saved up.

   2023, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia, directed by Raine Allen-Miller, Rye Lane, spoken by Nathan (Simon Manyonda)

3. Multicultural London EnglishindefinitepersonalpronounslangAny person, one

   Man don't care.

   2 more examples

   He was of all colours Þat man may se of flours Be-twene Mydsomer and May.

   c. 1450, Thomas Chestre, Libeaus Desconus

   I don’t really mind how . how my girl looks if she looks decent yeah and there’s one bit of her face that just looks mashed yeah . I don’t care it’s her personality man’s looking at (Alex, MLE corpus [MLE])

   2013, Jenny Cheshire, “Grammaticalisation in social context: The emergence of a new English pronoun”, in Journal of Sociolinguistics, volume 17, number 5, page 609

present singular third person mans · participle present manning · participle past manned · past manned

1. transitiveTo supply (something) with staff or crew (of either sex).

   The ship was manned with a small crew.

   1 more example

   In Britain, nearly 2,500 steam locomotives were built, 999 to new designs. Although the latter were modern, they were still labour-intensive to man and maintain, during a period of full employment when working for poor pay in the dirty railway environment was unattractive.

   2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 39

2. transitiveTo take up position in order to operate (something).

   Man the machine guns!

   2 more examples

   “Avast!” roared Ahab, dashing him against the bulwarks—“Man the boat! Which way heading?”

   1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 100, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC

   At times it might seem, to a less sympathetic soul than our imagined observer, that this pale blue, egg-shaped two-door sedan, of uncertain age and in mediocre condition, was manned by an idiot.

   1957 March 7, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 5.1, in Pnin, Heinemann, page 112

3. datedpossiblyreflexiveTo brace (oneself), to fortify or steel (oneself) in a manly way. (Compare man up.)

   he manned himself heroically

   1876, Julian Hawthorne, Saxon Studies

   1 more example

   “To stay open, the senior enlisted leader of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan Forward said he needed people to cover security,” Duncan wrote. “Personnel Recovery Task Force (PRTF) Pilots, maintainers and support personnel donned their vests, helmets and M-4 rifles and manned defensive fighting positions.”

   2021 October 14, Oren Liebermann, “CENTCOM disputes Air Force account of attempted hijacking at Kabul airport during Afghanistan evacuation”, in CNN

4. obsoletetransitiveTo wait on, attend to or escort.
5. obsoletetransitivefalconryTo accustom (a raptor or other type of bird) to the presence of people.

1. computingA command used to display help pages in Unix and Unix-like operating systems.

alternative man

1. The genus Homo.
2. poeticHumankind in general.

   1 more example

   The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen.[…]The second note, the high alarum, not so familiar and always important since it indicates the paramount sin in Man's private calendar, took most of them by surprise although they had been well prepared.

   1963, Margery Allingham, “Eye Witness”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 249

alternative Mann

1. The Isle of Man; an island and crown dependency of the United Kingdom in the Irish Sea.

   And therefore the Bishop and clergy of Man were totally powerless to resist the alteration of doctrinal articles and rites of worship which Earls Edward and Henry, between 1521 and 1594, following the edicts of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Elizabeth, introduced into the Isle of Man.

   1860, William Mackenzie, editor, Legislation by Three of the Thirteen Stanleys, Kings of Man. […], Douglas, Isle of Man: […] [T]he Manx Society, page 191

alternative Man. · alternative MAN

1. abbreviationAbbreviation of Manitoba: a province of Canada.

plural Mans

1. A surname from Chinese.

plural Mans

1. A surname from Chinese.

alternative Man.

1. abbreviationAbbreviation of Manchester: a city in England (especially in football).

1. A town in Logan County, West Virginia, United States.
2. A city and department in the Ivory Coast.
3. A village in Palghar district, Maharashtra, India.

   Synonyms: Maan

plural Mans

1. A surname

plural MANs

1. abbreviationinitialismcomputingInitialism of Metropolitan Area Network, a large computer network usually spanning a city.

alternative Man · alternative Man.

1. abbreviationAbbreviation of Manitoba: a province of Canada.