means
Britishnoun
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(functioning as singular or plural) the medium, method, or instrument used to obtain a result or achieve an end
a means of communication
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(functioning as plural) resources or income
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(functioning as plural) considerable wealth or income
a man of means
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without hesitation or doubt; certainly
come with us by all means
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with the use or help of
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definitely not
he was by no manner of means a cruel man
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on no account; in no way
by no means come!
Explanation
Someone who has wealth beyond the average person is said to be a person of means. Means can also mean the way something happens. You should try to resolve your fight with your brother through peaceful means––noogies are so undignified. The expression "the end justifies the means" is an example of this usage — basically, you are saying that even if the method used to get the result was bad, the result was good enough to make it okay. The tools needed to do something can also be called the means. You don't have the means to make an art project if you need paint and feathers and you have neither.
Vocabulary lists containing means
Haiti Earthquake One-Year Report
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Unit 7, Words to Know
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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.
"If people are saying ‘I didn’t mean it like that, or I don’t know what it means', well it’s our responsibility as parents, as teachers, to educate them on why it is."
From BBC • Dec. 14, 2024
“First and foremost, the ordinary meaning of ‘also means’ is additive rather than clarifying,” Ginsburg wrote.
From Washington Post • Nov. 6, 2018
Talking via video link from Moscow to the Common Cause Blueprint for a Great Democracy conference, Snowden said: “The FBI says Apple has the ‘exclusive technical means’ to unlock the phone.
From The Guardian • Mar. 9, 2016
Customer ratings, Chen wrote, give Uber an "arguably tremendous amount of control over the ‘manner and means’ of its drivers’ performance."
From The Verge • Oct. 28, 2015
"It is announced that, starting with next week, 'Ways and means' and 'Common Sense' will be amalgamated."
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, December 22, 1920 by Seaman, Owen, Sir
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.
