MASH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mash mean? 

• MASH (noun)
  The noun MASH has 2 senses:

1. a mixture of mashed malt grains and hot water; used in brewing

2. mixture of ground animal feeds

  Familiarity information: MASH used as a noun is rare.

• MASH (verb)
  The verb MASH has 3 senses:

1. to compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition

2. talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions

3. reduce to small pieces or particles by pounding or abrading

  Familiarity information: MASH used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MASH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A mixture of mashed malt grains and hot water; used in brewing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

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

suspension (a mixture in which fine particles are suspended in a fluid where they are supported by buoyancy)

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

sour mash (a mash with optimum acidity for yeast fermentation; a mixture of old and new mash; used in distilling some whiskeys)

Derivation:

mash (reduce to small pieces or particles by pounding or abrading)

mash (to compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Mixture of ground animal feeds

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

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

feed; provender (food for domestic livestock)

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

chicken feed; scratch (dry mash for poultry)

Derivation:

mash (reduce to small pieces or particles by pounding or abrading)

mash (to compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition)

• MASH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they mash    ... he / she / it mashes   
Past simple: mashed   
Past participle: mashed   
-ing form: mashing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

To compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

crush; mash; squash; squeeze; squelch

Context example:

squeeze a lemon

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

press (exert pressure or force to or upon)

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

wring (twist, squeeze, or compress in order to extract liquid)

stamp (crush or grind with a heavy instrument)

steamroller (crush with a steamroller as if to level)

tread (crush as if by treading on)

telescope (crush together or collapse)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

mash (mixture of ground animal feeds)

mash (a mixture of mashed malt grains and hot water; used in brewing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

butterfly; chat up; coquet; coquette; dally; flirt; mash; philander; romance

Context example:

My husband never flirts with other women

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

speak; talk (exchange thoughts; talk with)

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

wanton (engage in amorous play)

vamp (act seductively with (someone))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

masher (a man who is aggressive in making amorous advances to women)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Reduce to small pieces or particles by pounding or abrading

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

bray; comminute; crunch; grind; mash

Context example:

mash the garlic

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

break up; fragment; fragmentise; fragmentize (break or cause to break into pieces)

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

pulp (reduce to pulp)

pestle (grind, mash or pulverize in a mortar)

mill (grind with a mill)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

mash (mixture of ground animal feeds)

mash (a mixture of mashed malt grains and hot water; used in brewing)

masher (a kitchen utensil used for mashing (e.g. potatoes))

 Context examples 

A question about whether an individual has or had difficulty swallowing soft or mashed foods.

(Difficulty Swallowing Soft or Mashed Foods, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is motile, sporulating and produces acetone, butanol and ethanol in fermentation systems using maize mash, molasses, and other feedstocks.

(Clostridium acetobutylicum, NCI Thesaurus)

In the middle was a large rack, with angles answering to every partition of the manger; so that each horse and mare ate their own hay, and their own mash of oats and milk, with much decency and regularity.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

It was a remarkable instance of want of forethought on the part of the ironmonger who had made Mrs. Crupp's kitchen fireplace, that it was capable of cooking nothing but chops and mashed potatoes.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I knew the other clerks and young bond-salesmen by their first names and lunched with them in dark crowded restaurants on little pig sausages and mashed potatoes and coffee.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)