lively and quick fiS ftfj;
UlU1 (tfj: a brilliant, mercurial mind 3 (technical Ain) containing
MERCURY 7jCfS®
Mercury /'maikjari; NAmE 'ni3:rk-/ noun the smallest planet
in the solar system, nearest to
the sun AM mercury /'m3:kjeri; NAmE 'm3:rk-/ noun [U] (symb Hg) a chemical element.
Mercury is a poisonous silver liquid metal, used in thermometers. M; A#l mercy /'ni3:si; NAmE 'm3:rsi/ noun (pi. -ies) 1 [u] a kind or
forgiving attitude towards sb that you have the power to harm or right to
punish tl; % W. EiTO humanity : to
ask/beg/plead for mercy it A / A / ?Jt A 0 They showed no mercy to their hostages, life ill*!o God have mercy on us.
0
The
troops are on a mercy mission (= a journey to help
people) in
the war zone.
KS&o
2 [C, usually
sing.] (informal) an event or a situation
to be grateful for, usually because it stops sth unpleasant AS; 1 I : It’s a mercy she wasn’t seriously hurt. A j§ (ft M (9j A S <> —
see also
merciful, merciless OTT71 at the mercy of
sb/sth not
able to stop sb/sth harming you because they have power or control over you ft-
• S; if
&
• • • S : I’m not going to put
myself at the mercy of the bank. |£A$!Ift 0 We were at the mercy
of the
weather,
f] 5?: rlfj 7 leave sb/sth to the
mercy/mercies of sb/sth to leave sb/sth in a
situation that may cause them to suffer or to be treated badly ( M?ctEAA ) throw yourself on sb’s mercy (formal) to put yourself in a
situation where you must rely on sb to be kind to you and not harm or punish
you ) ft
—
more at small adj.
'mercy killing noun [C, U] the act of
killing sb out of pity, for example because they are in severe pain ^ A £E;
A-MSt^EA 033 euthanasia mere 0"* /mia(r); NAmE mir/ adj., noun a adj. [only before noun] (superlative merest, no comparative) 1 used when you want
to emphasize how small, unimportant, etc. sb/sth is iXiXfiiJ; RAM: It took her a mere 20
minutes to win. MRif T 20 „
0 A
mere 2% of their budget
has been spent on publicity, ft ClWM^ftAR A 2% fBAaffo o He seemed so young, a
mere boy. ftlrA3l$^¥3S, RJiA2£To 0 You’ve got the job.
The interview will be a mere formality. ftB*£#
f'JTMfftlft
o ®istAMJi:yH£i£o 2 used when you are saying that the fact
that a particular thing is present in a situation is enough to have an
influence on that situation R % • • • ffc ft tU: His mere presence (= just the fact that
he was there) made her feel afraid, ft ®
, MMft T o o
The mere fact that they
were prepared to talk was
encouraging. 1M1JS ;§C ® ,
MiMII
A^t 7 o o
The mere thought of
eating made him feel sick, life—o The merest (= the slightest) hint of smoke is
enough to make her feel ill. ft
pja«l
■ noun (BrE, literary) (also used in names i±L
A £ ft) a small
0 He said nothing, merely smiled and watched
her. (m'A&mti, oThey
agreed to go merely because
they were getting paid for it. m) ® o I’m merely
stating what everybody knows
anyway. AMU®
#iR«
mer en gue /ma’rerjgei/ noun [U, C] a lively
m (
meretricious /.mera'trijas/ adj. (formal) seeming attractive,
but in fact having no real value Ip M A/£
merge /m.3:d3; NAmE m3ird3/ verb 1 ~ (with/into) sth |
A with B | ~
A and B (together) to combine or make
two or more things
combine to form a single thing
( ft ) if 3$,
%nif, #A: [V] The banks are set to merge next year.
S/litff?f£&BJ^ff 0 0 His
department will merge with mine, ft (ft f] ffl ft 1$ if # o 0
The villages expanded and merged into one large town. Mifjf A7#.S.^J$7--AA^fU o Fact and fiction merge together in his
latest thriller, 7ftfiMWftP$: Aift A, — 0 The two groups have
merged to form a new party. Air
% o 0 [VN] His department will be
merged with mine, ft o The
company was formed by merging three smaller firms.
ft;
o 2 [V] if two things merge,
or if one thing merges into another, the differences between them gradually
disappear so that it is impossible to separate themM; ft A; The hills merged
into the dark sky behind
them.
Iffifll merge into the background (of a person A) to
behave quietly when you are with a group of people so that they do not notice
you ft ft li A
ft; AA®&
merger /'m3:d3a(r);
NAmE 'm3ird3-/ noun
[C] ~ (be- tween/of A and B) | - (with sth) the act of joining two or
more organizations or businesses into one (Alftft 'Bff: a merger between the
two banks W'o # O our proposed merger with the university
me rid ian /ma'ridian/ noun one of the lines that is drawn from the
North Pole to the South Pole on a map
of the world 7
meringue
/ma'raeq/
noun [U, C] a sweet white mixture made from egg whites and sugar,
usually baked until crisp and used to make cakes; a small cake made from this
mixture 31 j#; 3ti$f®el£: a lemon meringue pie
ftmwmm
me rino /ma'riinao; NAmE -nou/ noun (pi. -os) 1 [C] a breed of sheep
with long fine wool HfiJ 7 ) 2 [U] the wool of
the merino sheep or a type of cloth made from this wool, used for making
clothes
merit /'merit/
noun, verb
mnoun 1 [U]
(formal) the quality of being
good and of deserving praise, reward or admiration Hj?g; (ft {t Em worth : a work of outstanding artistic merit 0 The
plan is entirely without merit. M Ait .ftjftiko 0 I want to get the job on merit. 2 [C, usually pi.] a good
feature that deserves praise,
reward or admiration fi
%m; && hh
strength : We will consider each case on its (own)
merits (= without considering
any other issues, feelings, etc.). ftitlftltE^fto o
They weighed up the relative merits of the four
candidates. ttf]^0«|IA# g 3 [C]
(BrE) a mark/grade in an exam or for a piece of
work at school or university which is excellent (
4
[C] (BrE) a mark/grade given as a reward for good behaviour at school (
(m)
uverb (not used in the
progressive tenses Afflf ibW) (formal) to do sth to deserve praise,
attention, etc. fft # ; {t % Em deserve : [VN] He claims that their success was not
merited. 0
The case does not merit further investigation. MA^TA [also V -ing]
merit oc racy /.meri'tnkrasi; NAmE-'ta:k-/ noun (pi. -ies) 1 [C, U] a country or
social system where people get power or money on the basis of their ability ff
^4^11 ft ftl; 2 the meritocracy [sing.] the group
of people with power in
this kind of social system fi ^ WSIE7 ► mer-ito-crat-ic /.merita’kraetik/ adj.
meritorious /.meri’toirias/ adj. (formal) deserving praise Pm praiseworthy
mer-kin /'m3:kin; NAmE 'm3:rk-/ noun an artificial covering
of hair for the pubic area {UPfiX
merlin /'m3:lm; NAmE 'm3:rlm/ noun a small bird of prey (= a bird that kills other
creatures for food) of the falcon
family