| English Dictionary |
CHRISTMAS
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Dictionary entry overview: What does Christmas mean?
• CHRISTMAS (noun)
The noun CHRISTMAS has 2 senses:
1. period extending from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6
2. a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Christ; a quarter day in England, Wales, and Ireland
Familiarity information: CHRISTMAS used as a noun is rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Period extending from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Synonyms:
Christmas; Christmastide; Christmastime; Noel; Yule; Yuletide
Hypernyms ("Christmas" is a kind of...):
season (a recurrent time marked by major holidays)
Meronyms (parts of "Christmas"):
Boxing Day (first weekday after Christmas)
Holonyms ("Christmas" is a part of...):
Jan; January (the first month of the year; begins 10 days after the winter solstice)
Dec; December (the last (12th) month of the year)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Christ; a quarter day in England, Wales, and Ireland
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Synonyms:
Christmas; Christmas Day; Dec 25; Xmas
Hypernyms ("Christmas" is a kind of...):
quarter day (a Christian holy day; one of four specified days when certain payments are due)
feast day; fete day (a day designated for feasting)
holy day of obligation (a day when Catholics must attend Mass and refrain from servile work, and Episcopalians must take Communion)
legal holiday; national holiday; public holiday (authorized by law and limiting work or official business)
Holonyms ("Christmas" is a part of...):
Context examples
"Merry Christmas, Marmee! Many of them! Thank you for our books. We read some, and mean to every day," they all cried in chorus.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Next he bought Marian's wedding present, and simpler presents, suitable to Christmas, for Ruth and Gertrude.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
It was near Christmas by the time all was settled: the season of general holiday approached.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The Christmas Day eclipse of December 25 will be one of the most memorable and significant periods of the year for your career, and it will trigger so much more to come in 2020.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
They expected me home before Christmas; but had no idea of my returning so soon.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
At Christmas every body invites their friends about them, and people think little of even the worst weather.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
This is a recessive X-linked disorder, also called hemophilia B or Christmas disease.
(F9 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)
Yes; I shall take orders soon after my father's return—probably at Christmas.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
According to the MAVEN data, solar particles that caused the "Christmas lights" penetrated deeply into the Martian atmosphere—sparking auroras less than 100 km from the surface.
(Auroras on Mars, NASA)
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