MINCE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mince mean? 

• MINCE (noun)
  The noun MINCE has 1 sense:

1. food chopped into small bits

  Familiarity information: MINCE used as a noun is very rare.

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

1. make less severe or harsh

2. walk daintily

3. cut into small pieces

  Familiarity information: MINCE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MINCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Food chopped into small bits

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Context example:

a mince of mushrooms

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

aliment; alimentation; nourishment; nutriment; nutrition; sustenance; victuals (a source of materials to nourish the body)

Derivation:

mince (cut into small pieces)

• MINCE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they mince    ... he / she / it minces   
Past simple: minced   
Past participle: minced   
-ing form: mincing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make less severe or harsh

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

mince; moderate; soften

Context example:

He moderated his tone when the students burst out in tears

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

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Walk daintily

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

She minced down the street

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

walk (use one's feet to advance; advance by steps)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

The children mince to the playground

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cut into small pieces

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

mince the garlic

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

chop; chop up (cut into pieces)

Sentence frames:

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

Sentence example:

The chefs mince the vegetables

Derivation:

mince (food chopped into small bits)

mincer (a kitchen utensil that cuts or chops food (especially meat) into small pieces)

 Context examples 

“A smoker, Mr. Holmes?” said he, speaking in well-chosen English, with a curious little mincing accent.

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

He slowed down to an alert and mincing walk and then stopped.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Monsieur a parle de vous: il m'a demande le nom de ma gouvernante, et si elle n'etait pas une petite personne, assez mince et un peu pale.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“Hold it safe, father,” the other answered, in the same soft, mincing dialect.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The wife minced a bit of meat, then crumbled some bread on a trencher, and placed it before me.

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

He spoke with fire and conviction, mincing no words in his attack upon the slaves and their morality and tactics and frankly alluding to his hearers as the slaves in question.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

With an alacrity beyond the common impulse of a spirit which yet was never indifferent to the credit of doing every thing well and attentively, with the real good-will of a mind delighted with its own ideas, did she then do all the honours of the meal, and help and recommend the minced chicken and scalloped oysters, with an urgency which she knew would be acceptable to the early hours and civil scruples of their guests.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

She was obliged to walk carefully, for she had on high-heeled shoes, and, as Laurie told Jo afterward, it was a comical sight to see her mince along in her gay suit, with Polly sidling and bridling just behind her, imitating her as well as he could, and occasionally stopping to laugh or exclaim, Ain't we fine?

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

They turned their shoulders to her most savage slashes, and with wagging tails and mincing steps strove to placate her wrath.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Likewise in the account of the academy of projectors, and several passages of my discourse to my master Houyhnhnm, you have either omitted some material circumstances, or minced or changed them in such a manner, that I do hardly know my own work.

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