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mealie

[mee-lee]
noun South African.
  1. Sometimes mealies. corn; maize.
  2. an ear of corn.
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Origin of mealie

1850–55; < Afrikaans mielie < Portuguese milho maize, millet < Latin milium millet
Also called mielie.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mealies

Historical Examples

  • Now, tell Jack he must go back at once, as soon as he has had some mealies.

    Diamond Dyke

    George Manville Fenn

  • For a pinch of mealies I'd have let the little shrew go, by thunder!

    The Dop Doctor

    Clotilde Inez Mary Graves

  • We got away with these loads of mealies, but it will be known to-morrow.

    The Kopje Garrison

    George Manville Fenn

  • We may have to ride for our lives; so I managed to beg a feed of mealies apiece for them.

    The Kopje Garrison

    George Manville Fenn

  • There were no mealies whatever, except what was standing in the fields.

British Dictionary definitions for mealies

mealies

mielies

noun
  1. (functioning as singular) a South African word for maize
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mealie

mielie

noun
  1. Southern African an ear of maizeSee also mealies
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Word Origin

C19: from Afrikaans milie, from Portuguese milho, from Latin milium millet
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012