Mo not for a/one ' minute certainly not; not at all ^

A; M A: I don’t think for a minute that she’ll accept but you can ask her.    ^ rTIU Ir] |r]

M e this minute immediately; now al M ; ^ ± ; M fE: Come down this minute! SAA! 0 I don’t know what I’m going to do yetI’ve just this minute found out.     mmscm, to the

m i n ute exactly ?£ fift M; fift fU M: The train arrived at 9.05 to the minute. ?!]$ 9:05 iUBtiiJj&o ,up to the minute (informal) 1 fashionable and modern HM; ‘M KgH|oj; AN": Her styles are always up to the minute. M (ft ^       ^ # S' W M o 2 having the latest informa­tion (ft; Hft-M Ur (ft: The traffic reports

are up to the minute. £ IS M M «it Mz M #r ftl— see also up-to-the-minute —more at born v., just adv.,

LAST1 del, WAIT V.

verb to write down sth that is said at a meeting in the official record (= the minutes) ft (

: [VN] I’d like that last remark to be minuted.

[also V that]

mi nute2 /mai'njurt; NAmE also -'nu:t/ adj. —see also minute1        (superlative         minutest, no comparative)

1 extremely small JR/JTft; #t/j'(ft; (ft H771 tiny: minute amounts of chemicals in the water zRAlitJt® A (ftffc^J&T 0 The kitchen on the boat is minute. A$S± (ft M A Wl 7 o 2 very detailed, careful and thorough i It A i W  (ft : a minute examination/

inspection 0 She remembered every­

thing in minute detail/in the minutest detail(s). Mid# ^---^♦(ft^fflT’o mi nute ly adv.: The agreement has been examined minutely. ^l£A#(ft#ll:o

'minute hand noun [usually sing.] the hand on a watch or clock that points to the minutes ( # & (ft ) jf if — picture o clock

Minute-man /'minitmaen/ noun {pi. -men /-man/) (1/5) (during the American Revolution) a member of a group of men who were not soldiers but who were ready to fight immediately when they were needed ( Hif ^

mm®)

mi nu tiae /mai'njuijn:; NAmEmi'nuijii:/ noun [pi.] very small details A(ft£fflT: the minutiae of the contract

minx /mirjks/ noun [sing.] (old-fashioned or humorous) a girl or young woman who is clever at getting what she wants, and does not show respect

A$3 )

MIPS /mips/ abbr. (computing if) million instructions per second (a unit for measuring computer speed)

)

miraa /'mira:/ noun [U] (EAfrE) a form of khat miracle /‘mirakl/ noun 1 [C] an act or event that does not follow the laws of nature and is believed to be caused by God T ; M ilk H77l wonder 2 [sing.] (informal) a lucky thing that happens that you did not expect or think was possible # ; ATM (ft A : an

economic miracle    Affi(ft Ifli 0 It’s a miracle (that)

nobody was killed in the crash. IS7AI£T:lc£7$:A~A o It would take a miracle to make this business profitable.

0 a miracle cure/drug (ft??S3ZJ

wonder 3 [C] ~ of sth a very good example or product of sth JR#J$] A; Hop KTO WONDER: The car is a miracle of engineering. 7 Ji H 7 X M 0*J H pnp <, rr*T7TM work/perform miracles to achieve very good results A It : Her exercise programme has

worked miracles for her. MWjilKt^Xj’MfflA^o 1 miracle play noun = mystery play mi racu lous /mi'raekjalas/ adj. like a miracle; com­pletely unexpected and very lucky fltfft; A#® i$C(ft; ATM(ft HEI extraordinary, phenomenal : miraculous powers of healing # If (ft 7 ^ tb A o She’s made a miraculous recovery. itltiiSTo mi- racu-lous-ly adv.: They miraculously survived the plane crash.

mirage /'mira:3; mi'ra:3; NAmE ma'ra:3/ noun 1 an effect caused by hot air in deserts or on roads, that makes you think you can see sth, such as water, which is not there iQjjz; #1 rfiJISI^ 2 a hope or wish that you

I 1281

cannot make happen because it is not realistic iQ 3S; A*! H771 illusion: His idea of love was a mirage, M

Mi randa /mi'raenda/ adj. (in the US) relating to the fact that the police must tell sb who has been arrested about their rights, including the right not to answer questions, and warn them that anything they say may be used as evidence against them ( Hg )

(ft (

) ■. The

police read him his Miranda rights.  MW

NhlMIJI From the decision of the Supreme Court on the case of Miranda v the State of Arizona in 1966. M 1966

mirch /m3:tJ; NAmE m3:rtJV noun [U] (IndE) chilli(I) mire /'maia(r)/ noun [U] an area of deep mud MM',

ETZ71 bog : The wheels sank deeper into the mire. A M M A PS # M M T o 0 (figurative) My name had been dragged through the mire (= my reputation was ruined). ^ (ft & r 511!] T          o 0 (figurative) The government was

sinking deeper and deeper into the mire (= getting further into a difficult situation).      iSP§

mu c

mired /'maiad; NAmE 'maiard/ adj. [not before noun] ,r in sth (literary) 1 in a difficult or unpleasant situation that you cannot escape from pgA®it; ft : The country was mired in recession. j&A® AT

2 stuck in deep mud      HEPgJEiJ

mir ror CFw /'mira(r)/ noun, verb mnoun 1 [C] a piece of special flat glass that reflects images, so that you can see yourself when you look in it fiT: He looked at himself in the mirror. MM 7 MU To 0 a rear-view mirror (= in a car, so that the driver can see what is behind) ( Art (ft ) /slffi!t o (BrE) a wing mirror (= on the side of a car)       0

(NAmE) a side-view mirror fij IIII —picture o motor­cycle 2 a ~ of sth [sing.] something that shows what sth else is like ^ M; )k # 'If <52, (ft A : The face is the mirror of the soul.       ftJlj&To

verb [VN] 1 to have features that are similar to sth else and which show what it is like fx S& H77I reflect : The music of the time mirrored the feeling of optimism in the country.       .

2 to show the image of sb/sth on the surface of water, glass, etc. Sf:M; ix.lt H77I reflect : She saw herself mirrored in the window. Mit51! ft BlEf Sf^±MtllW

m*.

mirror-ball /’miraborl; NAmE 'mirar-/ noun a decor­ation consisting of a large ball covered in small mirrors that hangs from the ceiling and turns to produce lighting effects ( ratti. ATtTA&M )

mirrored /'mirad; NAmE -rard/ adj. [only before noun] having a mirror or mirrors or behaving like a mirror A ^T(ft; $HIT(ft: mirrored doors/sunglasses if ^7

(ftH;

,mirror 'image noun an image of sth that is like a reflection of it, either because it is exactly the same or because the right side of the original object appears on the left and the left side appears on the right ;

'mirror site (also mir-ror) noun (computing if) a website which is a copy of another website but has a different address on the Internet  ; STJN

'mirror writing noun [U] writing done backwards, that looks like ordinary writing in a mirror AM; fxH mirth /m3:0; NAmE m3:r0/ noun [U] happiness, fun and the sound of people laughing T ; Jfc % : The performance produced much mirth among the audience.

H3H MERRIMENT

mirth-less /'m3:01as; NAmE 'm3:r0-/ adj. (formal) showing no real enjoyment or amusement A'1^7 (ft; : a

mirthless laugh/smile ► mirth-less-ly adv.

MIS /,em ai 'es/ abbr. (computing if) management infor­mation system (a system that stores information for use