Adjacent Words

means definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: how a result is obtained or an end is achieved; "a means of control"; "an example is the best agency of instruction"; "the true way to success" [syn: means, agency, way]
2: an instrumentality for accomplishing some end
3: considerable capital (wealth or income); "he is a man of means" [syn: means, substance]

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n.pl. 1 (often treated as sing.) that by which a result is brought about (a means of quick travel). 2 a money resources (live beyond one's means). b wealth (a man of means). Phrases and idioms: by all means (or all manner of means) 1 certainly. 2 in every possible way. 3 at any cost. by means of by the agency or instrumentality of (a thing or action). by no means (or no manner of means) not at all; certainly not. means test an official inquiry to establish need before financial assistance from public funds is given. Etymology: pl. of MEAN(3)

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A means of doing something is a method, instrument, or process which can be used to do it. Means is both the singular and the plural form for this use. The move is a means to fight crime... The army had perfected the use of terror as a means of controlling the population... Business managers are focused on increasing their personal wealth by any available means. N-COUNT: with supp 2. You can refer to the money that someone has as their means. (FORMAL) ...a person of means... He did not have the means to compensate her. N-PLURAL 3. If someone is living beyond their means, they are spending more money than they can afford. If someone is living within their means, they are not spending more money than they can afford. The more gifts she received, the more she craved, until he was living beyond his means... PHRASE: v PHR, v-link PHR 4. If you do something by means of a particular method, instrument, or process, you do it using that method, instrument, or process. This is a two year course taught by means of lectures and seminars... PREP-PHRASE 5. You can say 'by all means' to tell someone that you are very willing to allow them to do something. 'Can I come and have a look at your house?'—'Yes by all means'. CONVENTION [formulae] 6. You use expressions such as 'by no means', 'not by any means', and 'by no manner of means' to emphasize that something is not true. This is by no means out of the ordinary... They were not finished, however, not by any means. PHRASE: PHR with cl/group, PHR before v [emphasis] 7. If you say that something is a means to an end, you mean that it helps you to achieve what you want, although it may not be enjoyable or important itself. We seem to have lost sight of the fact that marketing is only a means to an end. PHRASE: usu v-link PHR

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. sing. and pl. 1. Instrument, method, mode, way. 2. Resource, appliance, expedient, shift, step, measure. 3. Revenue, income, resources, the wherewithal, ways and means, substance, estate, property.

Moby Thesaurus

MO, Swiss bank account, action, ad hoc measure, algorithm, answer, apparatus, approach, artifice, assessed valuation, assets, assets and liabilities, attack, available means, balance, bank account, bottom dollar, budget, capital, capital goods, capitalization, cash reserves, checking account, circumstances, command of money, contraption, contrivance, countermove, coup, course, course of action, current assets, deferred assets, demarche, device, dodge, effort, exchequer, expedient, fashion, finances, fixed assets, form, frozen assets, fund, funds, gadget, gimcrack, gimmick, gizmo, grist, guise, hand tool, holdings, implement, improvisation, instrument, intangible assets, intangibles, jury-rig, jury-rigged expedient, kitty, last expedient, last resort, last shift, life savings, line, line of action, lines, liquid assets, makeshift, maneuver, manner, manner of working, material assets, measure, mechanical device, method, methodology, mode, mode of operation, mode of procedure, modus operandi, moneys, move, nest egg, net assets, net worth, order, pecuniary resources, pis aller, pocket, pool, power tool, practice, precision tool, procedure, proceeding, process, property, purse, quick assets, reserves, resort, resource, resources, routine, savings, savings account, shake-up, shift, solution, speed tool, step, stock, stock-in-trade, stopgap, stratagem, stroke, stroke of policy, style, substance, supply, system, tack, tactic, tangible assets, tangibles, technique, temporary expedient, the drill, the how, the way of, tone, tool, treasure, trick, trump, unregistered bank account, utensil, way, wealth, wherewithal, wise, working hypothesis, working proposition