Adjacent Words

Marrow definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MAR'ROW, n.
1. A soft oleaginous substance contained in the cavities of animal bones.
2. The essence; the best part.
3. In the Scottish dialect, a companion; fellow; associate; match.
MAR'ROW, v.t. To fill with marrow or with fat; to glut.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the fatty network of connective tissue that fills the cavities of bones [syn: marrow, bone marrow]
2: any of various squash plants grown for their elongated fruit with smooth dark green skin and whitish flesh [syn: marrow, marrow squash, vegetable marrow]
3: very tender and very nutritious tissue from marrowbones [syn: marrow, bone marrow]
4: large elongated squash with creamy to deep green skins [syn: marrow, vegetable marrow]
5: the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story" [syn: kernel, substance, core, center, centre, essence, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, marrow, meat, nub, pith, sum, nitty- gritty]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English marowe, from Old English mearg; akin to Old High German marag marrow, Sanskrit majjan Date: before 12th century 1. a. bone marrow b. the substance of the spinal cord 2. a. the choicest of food b. the seat of animal vigor c. the inmost, best, or essential part ; core <personal liberty is the marrow of the American tradition — Clinton Rossiter> 3. chiefly British vegetable marrow • marrowy adjective II. noun Etymology: Middle English marwe, marrow Date: 1516 chiefly Scottish one of a pair

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 (in full vegetable marrow) a a large usu. white-fleshed edible gourd used as food. b the plant, Cucurbita pepo, yielding this. 2 a soft fatty substance in the cavities of bones, often taken as typifying vitality. 3 the essential part. Phrases and idioms: to the marrow right through. Derivatives: marrowless adj. marrowy adj. Etymology: OE mearg, mærg f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Marrow Mar"row, n. [OE. marou, mary, maruh, AS. mearg, mearh; akin to OS. marg, D. merg, G. Mark, OHG. marg, marag, Icel. mergr, Sw. merg, Dan. marv, Skr. majjan; cf. Skr. majj to sink, L. mergere. [root]274 Cf. Merge.] 1. (Anat.) The tissue which fills the cavities of most bones; the medulla. In the larger cavities it is commonly very fatty, but in the smaller cavities it is much less fatty, and red or reddish in color. 2. The essence; the best part. It takes from our achievements . . . The pith and marrow of our attribute. --Shak. 3. [OE. maru, maro; -- perh. a different word; cf. Gael. maraon together.] One of a pair; a match; a companion; an intimate associate. [Scot.] Chopping and changing I can not commend, With thief or his marrow, for fear of ill end. --Tusser. Marrow squash (Bot.), a name given to several varieties of squash, esp. to the Boston marrow, an ovoid fruit, pointed at both ends, and with reddish yellow flesh, and to the vegetable marrow, a variety of an ovoid form, and having a soft texture and fine grain resembling marrow. Spinal marrow. (Anat.) See Spinal cord, under Spinal.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Marrow Mar"row, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Marrowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Marrowing.] To fill with, or as with, marrow of fat; to glut.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(marrows) 1. A marrow is a long, thick, green vegetable with soft white flesh that is eaten cooked. (BRIT; in AM, use squash) N-VAR 2. The marrow of something is the most important and basic part of it. We're getting into the marrow of the film. = crux N-SING: the N, usu N of n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

mar'-o (moach, chelebh, shiqquy, machah, "to make fat," "to grease"; muelos): Marrow is the nourisher and strengthener of the bones; it is said to moisten the bones: "The marrow (moach) of his bones is moistened" (Job 21:24). The fear of Yahweh "will be health to thy navel, and marrow (shiqquy, margin "refreshing, Hebrew moistening") to thy bones" (Pr 3:8). Thus, the expression is used figuratively of the things which alone can satisfy the soul: "My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow (chelebh, "fat") and fatness" (Ps 63:5); "In this mountain will Yahweh of hosts make unto all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow (memuchayim, particle, plural, Pual of machah), of wines on the lees well refined" (Isa 25:6). In the Epistle to the Hebrews the writer speaks of the word of God, which is "living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow" (Heb 4:12).

H. L. E. Luering

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Medulla, pith. 2. Essence, quintessence, best part, essential part.

Moby Thesaurus

abatis, axiom, axis, bottom, brains, center, center of action, center of gravity, centroid, centrum, chitterlings, cockscomb, core, dead center, distillate, distillation, elixir, epicenter, essence, essential, essentiality, fabric, flower, focus, fundamental, giblets, gist, gizzard, gravamen, haslet, heart, hub, hypostasis, inner essence, kernel, kidneys, liver, material, matter, meat, medium, medulla, metacenter, middle, nave, navel, nub, nucleus, nuts and bolts, omphalos, pith, pivot, postulate, principle, quid, quiddity, quintessence, quintessential, sap, soul, spirit, storm center, stuff, substance, sum and substance, sweetbread, the nitty-gritty, tongue, tripe, umbilicus, virtuality