mash

¹

[mash]

verb (used with object)

1. to crush.

   He mashed his thumb with a hammer.

2. to reduce to a soft, pulpy mass, as by beating or pressure, especially in the preparation of food.

3. to mix (crushed malt or meal of grain) with hot water to form wort.

noun

1. a soft, pulpy mass.

2. a pulpy condition.

3. a mixture of boiled grain, bran, meal, etc., fed warm to horses and cattle.

4. crushed malt or meal of grain mixed with hot water to form wort.

5. British Slang.,  mashed potatoes.

mash

²

[mash]

noun

1. a flirtation or infatuation.

2. a person who seeks another's affection or who is the object of affection.

verb (used with object)

1. to flirt with; court the affections of.

MASH

³

[mash]

noun

1. mobile army surgical hospital.

mash

¹

/ mæʃ /

noun

1. a soft pulpy mass or consistency

2. agriculture a feed of bran, meal, or malt mixed with water and fed to horses, cattle, or poultry

3. (esp in brewing) a mixture of mashed malt grains and hot water, from which malt is extracted

4. informal,  mashed potatoes

5. dialect,  a brew of tea

verb

1. to beat or crush into a mash

2. to steep (malt grains) in hot water in order to extract malt, esp for making malt liquors

3. dialect,  to brew (tea)

4. archaic,  to flirt with

MASH

²

/ mæʃ /

acronym

1. Mobile Army Surgical Hospital

Other Word Forms

• mashed adjective
• masher noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of mash¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English mash- and Old English mǣsc-, noun used in compounds, as in Middle English mashfat and Old English mǣscfat “mash-vat,” and mǣscwyrt “mash wort”; cognate with German Maische

Origin of mash²

First recorded in 1870–75; originally theatrical argot; further origin uncertain; flirt ( def. ), sweetheart, lover

Word History and Origins

Origin of mash¹

Old English mǣsc- (in compound words); related to Middle Low German mēsch

Example Sentences

Additionally, Stewart revealed the secret ingredient that goes into her mother’s mashed potatoes recipe: “Cream cheese with the butter and the milk.”

Read more on Salon

I hear the whoosh of the blade as it cuts through the troll’s extended arm like a spoon through Ma’s mashed potatoes—the akrafena slices the limb clean off.

Read more on Literature

The rest of the meal, fully prepared and frozen, includes mashed potatoes, gravy, macaroni and cheese, sweet corn, green-bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry relish, dinner rolls, a pumpkin pie and an apple cobbler.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

There’s always something that’s being created and mixed and mashed together to make something that, to me, is beautiful.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"Melissa take everything down," he said, including his fishing boat, which he describes as "mashed up".

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• chew 
• crush 
• grind 
• scrunch 
• squeeze 
• squish