Mother
['mʌðə] or ['mʌðɚ]
Definition
(noun.) a condition that is the inspiration for an activity or situation; 'necessity is the mother of invention'.
(noun.) a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother); 'the mother of three children'.
(noun.) a term of address for a mother superior.
(noun.) a term of address for an elderly woman.
(noun.) a stringy slimy substance consisting of yeast cells and bacteria; forms during fermentation and is added to cider or wine to produce vinegar.
(verb.) care for like a mother; 'She fusses over her husband'.
Typed by Connie--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A female parent; especially, one of the human race; a woman who has borne a child.
(n.) That which has produced or nurtured anything; source of birth or origin; generatrix.
(n.) An old woman or matron.
(n.) The female superior or head of a religious house, as an abbess, etc.
(n.) Hysterical passion; hysteria.
(a.) Received by birth or from ancestors; native, natural; as, mother language; also acting the part, or having the place of a mother; producing others; originating.
(v. t.) To adopt as a son or daughter; to perform the duties of a mother to.
(n.) A film or membrane which is developed on the surface of fermented alcoholic liquids, such as vinegar, wine, etc., and acts as a means of conveying the oxygen of the air to the alcohol and other combustible principles of the liquid, thus leading to their oxidation.
(v. i.) To become like, or full of, mother, or thick matter, as vinegar.
Typist: Ora
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Mamma, female parent, dam (applied to a beast).
a. [1]. Native, natural.[2]. Vernacular.
Editor: Robert
Definition
n. a female parent esp. one of the human race: a woman in relation to her child: a matron: that which has produced anything: the female head of a religious house: a familiar term of address to an old woman.—adj. received by birth as it were from one's mother: natural: acting the part of a mother: originating.—v.t. to adopt as a son or daughter.—ns. Moth′er-church the church from which others have sprung; Moth′er-coun′try -land the country of one's birth: the country from which a colony has gone out; Moth′erhood state of being a mother; Moth′ering a rural English custom of visiting one's parents on Mid-Lent Sunday; Moth′er-in-law the mother of one's husband or wife.—adj. Moth′erless without a mother.—n. Moth′erliness.—adj. Moth′erly pertaining to or becoming a mother: like a mother: parental: tender.—ns. Moth′er-of-pearl′ the nacreous internal layer of the shells of several molluscs esp. of the pearl-oyster so called because producing the pearl; Moth′er's-mark a birth-mark; Moth′er-tongue a person's native language: a language from which another has its origin; Moth′er-wa′ter the residual liquid remaining after the chemical substances it contained have been crystallised or precipitated; Moth′er-wit native wit: common-sense; Moth′er-wort a labiate plant growing in waste places; Queen′-moth′er the mother of a reigning sovereign.—Mother Carey's chicken the stormy petrel or other bird of the same family; Mother-Hubbard a woman's loose flowing gown like that proper to the nursery heroine.—Every mother's son all without exception.
n. dregs or sediments as of vinegar.—v.i. to become concreted.—adj. Moth′ery.
Checker: Mae
Unserious Contents or Definition
To see your mother in dreams as she appears in the home, signifies pleasing results from any enterprise. To hold her in conversation, you will soon have good news from interests you are anxious over. For a woman to dream of mother, signifies pleasant duties and connubial bliss. To see one's mother emaciated or dead, foretells sadness caused by death or dishonor. To hear your mother call you, denotes that you are derelict in your duties, and that you are pursuing the wrong course in business. To hear her cry as if in pain, omens her illness, or some affliction is menacing you.
Typed by Ada
Examples
- Miss Vye's family is a good one on her mother's side; and her father was a romantic wanderer--a sort of Greek Ulysses. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- I had settled things with father and mother. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- His mother had died, years before. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- It is curious that my mother, too, ran away from her family, but not for the sake of her husband. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I haven't any sister, or father and mother either. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- There, I found my mother, very pale and with red eyes: into whose arms I ran, and begged her pardon from my suffering soul. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- His mother left the room; then, moved by insupportable regret, I just murmured the words Dr. Bretton. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Like some other mothers, whom I have known in the course of my life, Mrs. Markleham was far more fond of pleasure than her daughter was. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- If those who had bad fathers and mothers were bad themselves, they were hanged for that. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- And say, mothers of America, is this a thing to be defended, sympathized with, passed over in silence? Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- They tarried not to bid their fathers and mothers good-bye, or any friend they knew. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- I should think every young man would want to go, though it is hard for the mothers and sisters who stay at home, she added sorrowfully. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- What do girls do who haven't any mothers to help them through their troubles? Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- Mrs. Ferrars is one of the most affectionate mothers in the world. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- Even those of us who regard ourselves as active in mothering the process and alert in detecting its growth are by no means constantly aware of any great change. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
Checker: Nellie