MAN (manned, manning, men)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Man mean? 

• MAN (noun)
  The noun MAN has 11 senses:

1. an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)

2. someone who serves in the armed forces; a member of a military force

3. the generic use of the word to refer to any human being

4. any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect carriage

5. a male subordinate

6. an adult male person who has a manly character (virile and courageous competent)

7. a manservant who acts as a personal attendant to his employer

8. a male person who plays a significant role (husband or lover or boyfriend) in the life of a particular woman

9. one of the British Isles in the Irish Sea

10. game equipment consisting of an object used in playing certain board games

11. all of the living human inhabitants of the earth

  Familiarity information: MAN used as a noun is familiar.

• MAN (verb)
  The verb MAN has 2 senses:

1. take charge of a certain job; occupy a certain work place

2. provide with workers

  Familiarity information: MAN used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

adult male; man

Context example:

there were two women and six men on the bus

Hypernyms ("man" is a kind of...):

adult; grownup (a fully developed person from maturity onward)

male; male person (a person who belongs to the sex that cannot have babies)

Meronyms (parts of "man"):

adult male body; man's body (the body of an adult man)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "man"):

ex; ex-husband (a man who was formerly a certain woman's husband)

hunk (a well-built sexually attractive man)

housefather (a man in charge of children in an institution)

inamorato (a man with whom you are in love or have an intimate relationship)

iron man; ironman (a strong man of exceptional physical endurance)

ironside (a man of great strength or bravery)

adonis (any handsome young man)

middle-aged man (a man who is roughly between 45 and 65 years old)

Monsieur (used as a French courtesy title; equivalent to English 'Mr')

old boy; old man (a familiar term of address for a man)

graybeard; greybeard; Methuselah; old man (a man who is very old)

paterfamilias; patriarch (the male head of family or tribe)

Peter Pan (a boyish or immature man; after the boy in Barrie's play who never grows up)

ponce (a man who is effeminate in his manner and fussy in the way he dresses)

posseman (an able-bodied man serving as a member of a posse)

Senhor (a Portuguese title of respect; equivalent to English 'Mr')

shaver (an adult male who shaves)

signior; signor (used as an Italian courtesy title; can be prefixed to the name or used separately)

signore (an Italian title of respect for a man; equivalent to the English 'sir'; used separately (not prefixed to his name))

sir (term of address for a man)

stiff (an ordinary man)

he-man; macho-man; stud (a man who is virile and sexually active)

Tarzan ((sometimes used ironically) a man of great strength and agility (after the hero of a series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs))

widower; widowman (a man whose wife is dead especially one who has not remarried)

philanderer; womaniser; womanizer (a man who likes many women and has short sexual relationships with them)

golden boy; wonder boy (a man who is unusually successful at an early age)

young buck; young man (a teenager or a young adult male)

Herr (a German man; used before the name as a title equivalent to Mr in English)

white man (a man who is White)

baboo; babu (used as a Hindi courtesy title; equivalent to English 'Mr')

bachelor; unmarried man (a man who has never been married)

bey ((formerly) a title of respect for a man in Turkey or Egypt)

boy (a friendly informal reference to a grown man)

beau; boyfriend; fellow; swain (a man who is the lover of a man or woman)

ex-boyfriend (a man who is no longer a woman's boyfriend)

bruiser; bull; Samson; strapper (a large and strong and heavyset man)

beau; clotheshorse; dandy; dude; fashion plate; fop; gallant; sheik; swell (a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance)

ejaculator (a man who ejaculates semen)

Esq; Esquire (a title of respect for a member of the English gentry ranking just below a knight; placed after the name)

father figure; father surrogate (a man who takes over all the functions of the real father)

father-figure (a man (often a powerful or influential man) who arouses emotions usually felt for your real father and with whom you identify psychologically)

buster; dude; fellow (an informal form of address for a man)

galoot (a disreputable or clumsy man)

geezer (a man who is (usually) old and/or eccentric)

castrate; eunuch (a man who has been castrated and is incapable of reproduction)

gentleman (a man of refinement)

divorced man; grass widower (a man who is divorced from (or separated from) his wife)

bozo; cat; guy; hombre; sod (an informal term for a youth or man)

Hooray Henry (a lively and ineffectual upper-class young man)

Instance hyponyms:

Adam ((Old Testament) in Judeo-Christian mythology; the first man and the husband of Eve and the progenitor of the human race)

Cain ((Old Testament) Cain and Abel were the first children of Adam and Eve born after the Fall of Man; Cain killed Abel out of jealousy and was exiled by God)

Abel ((Old Testament) Cain and Abel were the first children of Adam and Eve born after the Fall of Man; Abel was killed by Cain)

Ham; Japheth ((Old Testament) son of Noah)

Shem ((Old Testament) eldest son of Noah)

Seth ((Old Testament) third son of Adam and Eve; given by God in place of the murdered Abel)

Antonym:

woman (an adult female person (as opposed to a man))

Derivation:

manly (possessing qualities befitting a man)

manly (characteristic of a man)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone who serves in the armed forces; a member of a military force

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

man; military man; military personnel; serviceman

Context example:

two men stood sentry duty

Hypernyms ("man" is a kind of...):

skilled worker; skilled workman; trained worker (a worker who has acquired special skills)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "man"):

enlisted person (a serviceman who ranks below a commissioned officer)

military volunteer; voluntary; volunteer ((military) a person who freely enlists for service)

veteran; veteran soldier (a serviceman who has seen considerable active service)

ex-serviceman; vet; veteran (a person who has served in the armed forces)

striper (a serviceman who wears stripes on the uniform to indicate rank or years of service)

occupier (a member of a military force who is residing in a conquered foreign country)

noncombatant (a member of the armed forces who does not participate in combat (e.g. a chaplain or surgeon))

military officer; officer (any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command)

devil dog; leatherneck; Marine; shipboard soldier (a member of the United States Marine Corps)

conscript; draftee; inductee (someone who is drafted into military service)

commando; ranger (a member of a military unit trained as shock troops for hit-and-run raids)

bluejacket; navy man; sailor; sailor boy (a serviceman in the navy)

artilleryman; cannoneer; gunner; machine gunner (a serviceman in the artillery)

air force officer; commander (an officer in the airforce)

Holonyms ("man" is a member of...):

force; military force; military group; military unit (a unit that is part of some military service)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The generic use of the word to refer to any human being

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

it was every man for himself

Hypernyms ("man" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect carriage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

homo; human; human being; man

Hypernyms ("man" is a kind of...):

hominid (a primate of the family Hominidae)

Meronyms (parts of "man"):

loin; lumbus (either side of the backbone between the hipbone and the ribs in humans as well as quadrupeds)

anatomy; bod; build; chassis; figure; flesh; form; frame; human body; material body; physical body; physique; shape; soma (alternative names for the body of a human being)

body hair (short hair growing over a person's body)

head of hair; mane (growth of hair covering the scalp of a human being)

human head (the head of a human being)

foot; human foot; pes (the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint)

arm (a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb)

hand; manus; mitt; paw (the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb)

face; human face (the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear)

Domain member category:

body; organic structure (the entire physical structure of an organism (an animal, plant, or human being))

side (either the left or right half of a body)

nutrition (the scientific study of food and drink (especially in humans))

schistosome dermatitis; swimmer's itch (a sensitization reaction to repeated invasion of the skin by cercariae of schistosomes)

hyperdactyly; polydactyly (birth defect characterized by the presence of more than the normal number of fingers or toes)

syndactylism; syndactyly (birth defect in which there is partial or total webbing connecting two or more fingers or toes)

prepubertal; prepubescent ((especially of human beings) at the age immediately before puberty; often marked by accelerated growth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "man"):

human beings; human race; humanity; humankind; humans; man; mankind; world (all of the living human inhabitants of the earth)

Homo erectus (extinct species of primitive hominid with upright stature but small brain)

Homo soloensis (extinct primitive hominid of late Pleistocene; Java; formerly Javanthropus)

Homo habilis (extinct species of upright East African hominid having some advanced humanlike characteristics)

Homo sapiens (the only surviving hominid; species to which modern man belongs; bipedal primate having language and ability to make and use complex tools; brain volume at least 1400 cc)

Homo sapiens neanderthalensis; Neandertal; Neandertal man; Neanderthal; Neanderthal man (extinct robust human of Middle Paleolithic in Europe and western Asia)

Homo rhodesiensis; Rhodesian man (a primitive hominid resembling Neanderthal man but living in Africa)

Holonyms ("man" is a member of...):

genus Homo (type genus of the family Hominidae)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A male subordinate

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

he awaited word from his man in Havana

Hypernyms ("man" is a kind of...):

foot soldier; subordinate; subsidiary; underling (an assistant subject to the authority or control of another)

Sense 6

Meaning:

An adult male person who has a manly character (virile and courageous competent)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

the army will make a man of you

Hypernyms ("man" is a kind of...):

male; male person (a person who belongs to the sex that cannot have babies)

Derivation:

manly (possessing qualities befitting a man)

manly (characteristic of a man)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A manservant who acts as a personal attendant to his employer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

gentleman; gentleman's gentleman; man; valet; valet de chambre

Context example:

Jeeves was Bertie Wooster's man

Hypernyms ("man" is a kind of...):

body servant (a valet or personal maid)

manservant (a man servant)

Derivation:

man (provide with workers)

man (take charge of a certain job; occupy a certain work place)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A male person who plays a significant role (husband or lover or boyfriend) in the life of a particular woman

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

she takes good care of her man

Hypernyms ("man" is a kind of...):

lover (a significant other to whom you are not related by marriage)

male; male person (a person who belongs to the sex that cannot have babies)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Antonym:

woman (a female person who plays a significant role (wife or mistress or girlfriend) in the life of a particular man)

Sense 9

Meaning:

One of the British Isles in the Irish Sea

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

Isle of Man; Man

Instance hypernyms:

island (a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water)

Holonyms ("Man" is a part of...):

British Isles (Great Britain and Ireland and adjacent islands in the north Atlantic)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Game equipment consisting of an object used in playing certain board games

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

man; piece

Context example:

he sacrificed a piece to get a strategic advantage

Hypernyms ("man" is a kind of...):

game equipment (equipment or apparatus used in playing a game)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "man"):

black ((board games) the darker pieces)

checker; chequer (one of the flat round pieces used in playing the game of checkers)

chess piece; chessman (any of 16 white and 16 black pieces used in playing the game of chess)

tile (game equipment consisting of a flat thin piece marked with characters and used in board games like Mah-Jong, Scrabble, etc.)

white ((board games) the lighter pieces)

Sense 11

Meaning:

All of the living human inhabitants of the earth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

human beings; human race; humanity; humankind; humans; man; mankind; world

Context example:

she always used 'humankind' because 'mankind' seemed to slight the women

Hypernyms ("man" is a kind of...):

group; grouping (any number of entities (members) considered as a unit)

homo; human; human being; man (any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect carriage)

Meronyms (members of "man"):

people ((plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively)

• MAN (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Take charge of a certain job; occupy a certain work place

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

Mr. Smith manned the reception desk in the morning

Hypernyms (to "man" is one way to...):

do work; work (be employed)

Verb group:

man (provide with workers)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

man (a manservant who acts as a personal attendant to his employer)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Provide with workers

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Context example:

Students were manning the booths

Hypernyms (to "man" is one way to...):

staff (provide with staff)

Verb group:

man (take charge of a certain job; occupy a certain work place)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "man"):

crew (serve as a crew member on)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

man (a manservant who acts as a personal attendant to his employer)

 Context examples 

The other man followed at his heels.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

My first thought was that a man who had come through a collision and rubbed shoulders with death merited more attention than I received.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

First, he asked if a man in England might have two solicitors or more.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I have written to Lestrade asking him to supply us with the details which are now wanting, and which he will only get after he has secured his man.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He watched the easy walk of the other in front of him, and for the first time realized that his walk was different from that of other men.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A man recently wrote to me on my website.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

As to the photograph, your client may rest in peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

For the rest, the man’s life moved in a narrow and conventional circle, for his habits were quiet and his nature unemotional.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There goes the man with the tent!

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The men slept, breathing heavily, side by side, under the one covering.

(White Fang, by Jack London)