mamma
1 Americannoun
noun
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Anatomy, Zoology. a structure, characteristic of mammals, that comprises one or more mammary glands with an associated nipple or teat, usually rudimentary unless developed and activated for the secretion of milk in the female after the birth of young.
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Meteorology. the hanging protuberances of a mammatus, on the undersurface of a thunderstorm cloud.
The mamma in this formation are distinctly ominous.
noun
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Also: momma. another word for mother 1
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informal a buxom and voluptuous woman
noun
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the milk-secreting organ of female mammals: the breast in women, the udder in cows, sheep, etc
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(functioning as plural) breast-shaped protuberances, esp from the base of cumulonimbus clouds
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mamma
First recorded before 1050; Middle English, from Latin: “breast, teat” (whence Old English mamme “teat”); see mamma 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The mamma centipede may have a face like a David Cronenberg nightmare, but she's a devoted parent, curling around the wriggly bits of multi-legged spaghetti she calls her offspring to protect them.
From Salon ● May 11, 2025
The name mammatus comes from the Latin mamma which means 'udder' or 'breast'.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2025
“And to defend the right of her mamma and papa to do all that they can for her.”
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 6, 2023
“No mamma must be forced to interrupt nursing to return to work, no women should be denied this possibility,” she said.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 7, 2023
“Mah mamma didn’t tell me Ah wuz born in no hurry. So whut business Ah got rushin’ now?
From "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston
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The mammae are arranged in three pairs, pectoral, 1/1; inguinal, 2/2.
From Life History of the Kangaroo Rat by Vorhies, Charles Taylor
Adult females collected on June 20 and July 7 had enlarged mammae but were no longer lactating.
From Mammals of Northwestern South Dakota by Andersen, Kenneth W.
This has a stout stem, about 8 in. high and 3 in. wide, and covered with smooth cone-shaped mammae, with woolly bases and stellate tufts of spines on their tips.
From Cactus Culture for Amateurs Being Descriptions of the Various Cactuses Grown in This Country, With Full and Practical Instructions for Their Successful Cultivation by Watson, W.
I now extended my examination in front of the womb to the posterior part of the mammae, and in doing so discovered a small gelatinous mass, about twice the size of a pea.
Usually a lactating vole showed evidence of only the abdominal mammae having been in use.
From Natural History of the Prairie Vole (Mammalian Genus Microtus) [KU. Vol. 1 No. 7] by Jameson, E. W.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.