magnum /'maegnam/ noun a bottle containing 1.5 litres of wine, etc. ( 1:5   ) AM$2 A#S

.magnum 'opus noun [sing.] (from-Latin) a work of art, music or literature that people think is the best that the artist, etc. has ever produced ft A#; mag-pie /'maegpai/ noun a black and white bird with a long tail and a noisy cry. There is a popular belief that magpies like to steal small bright objects. magus /'meigas/ noun {pi. magi /'meid3ai/) 1 a member of the group to which priests in ancient Persia belonged MM (    ) 2 a man

with magic powers A±

maha raja (also maha-ra-jah) /.maiha'raidsa/ noun an Indian prince, especially one who ruled over one of the states of India in the past (  kAX, XAs ( A

vmm) ±n±

maha-rani (also maha-ra-nee) /.marhe'rarni/ noun the wife of a maharaja (        ) X£-$2; ±£PA£2

Maha-rishi /.marha'rij’i; -’ri:-/ noun a Hindu spiritual

leader or wise man ( £p Aft ) )

WA

ma hatma /ma'haetma; -'hart-/ noun 1 a holy person in S Asia who is respected by many people (     5 A

2 the Ma-hatma Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian spiritual leader who opposed British rule in India Maha-yana /.marha'jarna/ (also .Maha.yana Bud­dhism) noun [U] one of the two major forms of Buddhism A A f# fit (     ) —com­

pare Theravada

mahjong (also mah-jongg especially in NAmE) /ma:'d3nr); NAmE -'30:13/ noun [U] (from Chinese) a Chinese game played with small pieces of wood with symbols on them MJ&

ma hog any /ma'hngani; NAmE -'harg-/ noun [U] 1 the hard reddish-brown wood of a tropical tree, used for making furniture £1 A; ttftX'A: a mahogany table £1 2 a reddish-brown colour  skin tanned

to a deep mahogany

ma hout /ma'haut/ noun a person who works with, rides and cares for an elephant AA; 9fl£A; illllA maid /meid/ noun 1 (often in compounds is|)

a female servant in a house or hotel A#;    ( Sfc

tt M ) A UK # M : There is a maid to do the house­work.    —see also barmaid, cham­

bermaid, DAIRYMAID, HOUSEMAID, MILKMAID, NURSE­MAID 2 (old use) a young woman who is not married X A;        AlfT^AT— see also old maid

mai-dan /mai'darn/ noun an open space in or near a town in S Asia, usually covered with grass (

maid en /'meidn/ noun, adj.

a noun 1 (literary) a young girl or woman who is not married A A; &LA; A#§AT: stories of knights and fair maidens A A 91 ± fP M A (tfj ¥ 2 (also , maiden over) (in cricket ]£#) an over in which no points are scored AffrAW—

adj. [only before noun] being the first of its kind |a maiden flight/voyage (= the first journey made by a plane/ship) ft] A A fr; fl 0 a maiden speech (= the first speech made by an MP in the parliaments of some countries)

.maiden 'aunt noun {old-fashioned) an aunt who has not married (  M

maiden hair /'meidnhe0(r); NAmE -her/ (also .maid­enhair 'fern) noun [U, C] a type of fern with long thin stems and delicate pale green leaves that are shaped like fans

maidenhair tree noun = ginkgo maid-en-head /'meidnhed/ noun {old use) 1 the state of being a virgin ihA^ffr; 4 A 2 = hymen 'maiden name noun a woman’s family name before marriage ( AT (ft ) #12^#: Kate kept her maiden name when she got married (= did not change her surname to that of her husband).

.maid of honour {BrE) {NAmE .maid of honor) noun {pi maids of honour/honor) (especially in the US) a young woman or girl who is not married and who is

1217  mailing

the main bridesmaid at a wedding ( AM AH® Hi#,

ftA$t#J )      #M —compare matron of

HONOUR

maid-servant /’meidsarvant; NAmE -S3:rv-/ noun {old- fashioned) a female servant in a house ft fh; A#; ffA mail tH* /meil/ noun, verb

m noun [U] 1 (BrE also post) the official system used for sending and delivering letters, packages, etc. ftPM; ftp ii (      ) : a mail service/train/van ftPjEfcJIR# / ?!]A /

^$0 the Royal Mail Jlitftpnft O Your cheque is in the mail. 0 We do our business by

mail. icO jliiSPjIHi&AltL — see also airmail, snail mail, voicemail 2 {BrE also post) letters, packages, etc. that are sent and delivered ftp#; fif#; ftp fa: There isn’t much mail today. -TXftP#T^o o I sat down to open the mail. ft XT A # X f§ # 0 o Is there a letter from them in the mail ? ftp # M # (Ml A1$ fg ? 0 hate mail (= letters containing insults and threats) fg —see also junk mail, surface mail 3 messages that are sent or received on a computer A T ftP #; e£[ ftp: Check regularly for new mail. a2 ffl S: If §t ftp # 0 — see also electronic mail, email 4 used in the title of some newspapers (       ) ftPjft: the Mail

on Sunday CMS!] 0 fiPfll) 5 = chain mail: a coat of mail — ©MAM o note at post verb 1 ~ sth (to sb/sth) | ~ (sb) sth {especially NAmE) to send sth to sb using the postal system ftp If : [VN, VNN] Don’t forget to mail that letter to your mother. $1] 3* TfE ffiMfktnifc&WXo 0 Don’t forget to mail your mother that letter. %\\ £ J  ft £ # & ^ A 0  0 [VN] The

company intends to mail 50 000 households in the area.

5      o note at post

2 ~ sb | - sth (to sb/sth) | - (sb) sth (BrE) to send a message to sb by email M <ATftP#fAi£; AMftP*n: [VN] Please mail us at the following email address, if 8; T ffi lltfj A ftp ffe fit %. in 3%ili o 0 The virus mails itself forward to everyone in your address book.

[also VNN] CCEn .mail sth«-+'out to send out a large number of letters, etc. at the same time S AP ^ : The brochures were mailed out last week.   J$#fc#tBA7o

mail-bag /'meilbaeg/ noun 1 {BrE also post-bag) a large strong bag that is used for carrying letters and pack­ages ftP3§ 2 = postbag(I)

'mail bomb noun, verb

m noun 1 (NAmB) = letter bomb 2 an extremely large number of email messages that are sent to sb ()

• verb mail-bomb [VN] to send sb an extremely large number of email messages   ( |6j-2ti£jlS

A M  T fP # ) : The newspaper was mail-bombed by

angry readers after the article was published.

jb,

mail-box /’meilbDks; NAmE -barks/ noun 1 {NAmB) = letter box(2) 2 {NAmE) = postbox picture o letter box 3 the area of a computer’s memory where email messages are stored ffeTfPH, fgflK (

'mail carrier (also 'letter carrier) (both NAmE) noun

O MAILMAN

'mail drop noun 1 {especially NAmE) an address where sb’s mail is delivered, which is not where they live or work  RftHfcAP#Mft)Ifett 2 {NAmE) a

box in a building where sb’s mail is kept for them to collect ( A lit       ) A Aft ft 3 {BrE) an occasion when

mail is delivered

mail er /'meila(r)/ noun {NAmE) 1 = mailing(2) 2 an envelope, box, etc. for sending small things by mail ftp

mm {)

mail ing /'meilir)/ noun 1 [U] the act of sending items by mail ftp jM ; ftPlf: The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders.  0 a mailing

address ftp If ife it 2 {NAmE also mailer) [c] a letter or package that is sent by mail, especially one that is sent to a large number of people ftp# (