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 that means he needs to do more on the world stage, positively or negatively, that may be what ends up happening."
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
The policy played a key role in shrinking the population and means there are fewer younger people to support a growing number of elderly relatives, Mu said.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
“Debt markets have almost entirely shut off access to money for any company that doesn’t have substantial revenue independent of AI data centers…That means the 200+ neoclouds are going to see guppy-level death and consolidation.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
If you buy maturity-based exchange-traded funds, you can build a ladder of the intervening years, but that means that each year, you have to commit to a certain amount coming due.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
This means that the negative results must happen twelve times in a row.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
