Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense masses, present participle massing, past tense, past participle massed
1. singular noun
A massof things is a large number of them grouped together.
On his desk is a mass of books and papers. [+ of]
Synonyms: lot, collection, load [informal], combination More Synonyms of mass
2. singular noun
A massof something is a large amount of it.
She had a mass of auburn hair. [+ of]
3. quantifier
Massesof something means a great deal of it.
[informal]
There's masses of work for her to do.
It has masses of flowers each year.
4. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
Mass is used to describe something which involves or affects a very large number of people.
...ideas on combating mass unemployment.
All the lights went off, and mass hysteria broke out.
...weapons of mass destruction.
...the harm caused by mass tourism.
Synonyms: large-scale, general, popular, widespread More Synonyms of mass
5. countable noun
A massof a solid substance, a liquid, or a gas is an amount of it, especially a large amount which has no definite shape.
...before it cools and sets into a solid mass.
The fourteenth century cathedral was reduced to a mass of rubble. [+ of]
...the strong temperature difference between the two masses of air.
Synonyms: piece, block, lump, chunk More Synonyms of mass
6. plural noun
If you talk about the masses, you mean the ordinary people in society, in contrast to the leaders or the highly educated people.
His music is commercial. It is aimed at the masses.
This issue has aroused much resentment among the masses.
7. singular noun
Themassof people are most of the people in a country, society, or group.
The 1939-45 world war involved the mass of the population. [+ of]
Schools allowed the mass of children to leave school at 16 with poor qualifications.
Synonyms: majority, body, bulk, best part More Synonyms of mass
8. countable noun [NOUNof noun]
A massof people is a large crowd of them.
...masses of excited people clogged the streets.
...a mass of grinning teenage faces.
Synonyms: crowd, group, body, pack More Synonyms of mass
9. verb
When people or things mass, or when you mass them, they gather together into a large crowd or group.
Shortly after the workers went on strike, police began to mass at the shipyard. [VERB]
The clouds massed, whipped up by the wind. [VERB]
The General was massing his troops for a counterattack. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: gather, assemble, accumulate, collect More Synonyms of mass
10. singular noun
If you say that something is amass of things, you mean that it is covered with them or full of them.
His body was a mass of sores.
In the spring, the meadow is a mass of daffodils. [+ of]
11. variable noun
In physics, the mass of an object is the amount of physical matter that it has.
[technical]
Astronomers know that Pluto and Triton have nearly the same size, mass, and density.
Synonyms: size, matter, weight, extent More Synonyms of mass
12. variable noun
Mass is a Christian church ceremony, especially in a Roman Catholic or Orthodox church, during which people eat bread and drink wine in order to remember the last meal of Jesus Christ.
She attended a convent school and went to Mass each day.
13. countable noun
A Mass is a piece of music which uses the prayers from the Christian ceremony of Mass as the words that are sung.
14. See also massed, critical mass, land mass
More Synonyms of mass
mass in British English
(mæs)
noun
1.
a large coherent body of matter without a definite shape
2.
a collection of the component parts of something
3.
a large amount or number, such as a great body of people
4.
the main part or majority
the mass of the people voted against the government's policy
5. in the mass
6.
the size of a body; bulk
7. physics
a physical quantity expressing the amount of matter in a body. It is a measure ofa body's resistance to changes in velocity (inertial mass) and also of the force experienced in a gravitational field (gravitational mass): according to the theory of relativity, inertial and gravitational masses are equal
See also inertial mass, gravitational mass
8.
(in painting, drawing, etc) an area of unified colour, shade, or intensity, usually denoting a solid form or plane
9. pharmacology
a pastelike composition of drugs from which pills are made
10. mining
an irregular deposit of ore not occurring in veins
modifier
11.
done or occurring on a large scale
mass hysteria
mass radiography
12.
consisting of a mass or large number, esp of people
a mass meeting
verb
13.
to form (people or things) or (of people or things) to join together into a mass
the crowd massed outside the embassy
Derived forms
massed
adjective
massedly (ˈmæsɪdlɪ, ˈmæstlɪ)
adverb
Word origin
C14: from Old French masse, from Latin massa that which forms a lump, from Greek maza barley cake; perhaps related to Greek massein to knead
Mass in British English
(mæs, mɑːs)
noun
1.
(in the Roman Catholic Church and certain Protestant Churches) the celebration of the Eucharist
See also High Mass, Low Mass
2.
a musical setting of those parts of the Eucharistic service sung by choir or congregation
Word origin
Old English mæsse, from Church Latin missa, ultimately from Latin mittere to send away; perhaps derived from the concluding dismissal in the Roman Mass, Ite, missa est, Go, it is the dismissal
Mass. in British English
abbreviation for
Massachusetts
Massachusetts in British English
(ˌmæsəˈtʃuːsɪts)
noun
a state of the northeastern US, on the Atlantic: a centre of resistance to English colonial policy during the War of American Independence; consists of a coastal plain rising to mountains in the west. Capital: Boston. Pop: 6 433 422 (2003 est). Area: 20 269 sq km (7826 sq miles)
Abbreviation: Mass or (with zip code) MA
Mass in American English1
(mæs)
noun
1.
the Roman Catholic Eucharistic rite consisting of prayers and ceremonies centered on the consecration of bread and wine as a real though mystical reenactment of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross: with differing doctrinal interpretations, the term has sometimes been used of the Eucharistic rite of other Churches
2.
a musical setting for certain parts of this rite
Word origin
ME masse < OE mæsse < LL(Ec) missa, mass, lit., dismissal, orig. pp. of L mittere, to dismiss < the words said by the priest ite, missa est (contio), go, (the meeting) is dismissed
Mass in American English2
Massachusetts
mass in American English
(mæs)
noun
1.
a quantity of matter forming a body of indefinite shape and size, usually of relatively large size; lump
2.
a large quantity or number
a mass of bruises
3.
bulk; size; magnitude
4.
the main or larger part; majority
5. Painting
a large area or form of one color, shade, intensity, etc.
6. Pharmacy
the paste or plastic combination of drugs from which pills are made
7. Physics
the quantity of matter in a body as measured by its inertia; the ratio of force to the acceleration produced by that force: experimentally it is found that the gravitational force onan object is proportional to its mass
abbrev. m see also matter (sense 2)
adjective
8.
a.
of a large number of things; large-scale
mass production
b.
of a large number of persons
a mass demonstration
9.
of, characteristic of, or for the masses
mass education
verb transitive, verb intransitive
10.
to gather or form into a mass
SIMILAR WORDS: bulk
Idioms:
in the mass
the masses
Word origin
ME masse < OFr < L massa, a lump, mass < Gr maza, barley cake < massein, to knead < IE base *menk-, to knead > mingle
mass in the Pharmaceutical Industry
(mæs)
Word forms: (plural) masses
noun
(Pharmaceutical: Ingredients)
A mass is a preparation of drugs similar to a paste, from which tablets are made.
The mass is put into molds and hardens into tablets.
The damp mass is forced through a mesh to form granules, which are dried and compressed into tablets.
A mass is a preparation of drugs similar to a paste, from which tablets are made.
COBUILD Collocations
mass
muscle mass
Examples of 'mass' in a sentence
mass
This teeming mass weighs about three pounds and it is known as your microbiome.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
High youth unemployment also helped provoke mass demonstrations.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The crisis has prompted a mass exodus from Delhi.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Or ministers who lie about uncontrolled mass immigration, or shoddy hospitals who let patients die?
The Sun (2016)
The number of MPs who might consider establishing a new party is simply not enough to form a critical mass.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
North of the front, a colder Arctic air mass arrived with wintry showers.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
A study showed that changing a classroom from standard desks to standing had a'significant' effect on the body mass index of students.
The Sun (2016)
We have come a long way since the days when crowds made massed monkey noises.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
There was just a mass of people.
The Sun (2014)
There was an almost bald strip in the middle of my mass of hair.
Carlos Acosta No Way Home: A Cuban Dancer's Tale (2007)
What is it about massed bulbs that brings out such snobbery in gardeners?
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
We built a large group through meetings in the local church and mass email campaigns.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
There was no link between pasta and body mass index.
The Sun (2016)
This tiny sample tells us little about how human life might be extended on a mass scale.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Cheers rose from the massed group of fighters.
Philip Marsden The Barefoot Emperor: An Ethiopian Tragedy (2007)
Exercise continues to be key to maintain bone density and muscle mass.
The Sun (2013)
Little did it know that the two land masses would become so inextricably bound.
Christianity Today (2000)
There were also masses of security guards outside the venue.
The Sun (2012)
You and your friend were suffering from mass hysteria.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Research found a link between high body mass index and poor memory.
The Sun (2016)
The manager said that there was no imminent prospect of a mass exodus.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Trains are the safest and cleanest form of mass transport.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Argentina had a land mass the size of continental Europe.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The bigger the organism grows, the further away will be the bulk of its mass from the outsideenvironment.
Peter F. Drucker MANAGEMENT: task, responsibilities, practices (1974)
Word lists with
mass
Types of composition
In other languages
mass
British English: mass /mæs/ NOUN
A mass of something is a large amount of it.
He had a mass of black hair.
American English: mass amount
Arabic: مِقْدَارٌ كَبِيرٌ
Brazilian Portuguese: montão
Chinese: 大量
Croatian: masa
Czech: masa
Danish: masse
Dutch: massa hoeveelheid
European Spanish: masa volumen
Finnish: suuri joukko
French: masse
German: Masse
Greek: μάζα
Italian: massa
Japanese: 大量 amount
Korean: 풍성한
Norwegian: mengde
Polish: mnóstwo ilość
European Portuguese: montão
Romanian: masă
Russian: масса
Latin American Spanish: masa magnitud física
Swedish: massa mängd
Thai: จำนวนมาก
Turkish: kütle
Ukrainian: маса
Vietnamese: khối lượng
British English: mass ADJECTIVE
Mass is used to describe something which involves or affects a very large number of people.
...ideas on combating mass unemployment.
American English: mass
Brazilian Portuguese: de massa
Chinese: 人数众多的
European Spanish: masivo
French: massif
German: Massen-
Italian: di massa
Japanese: 多数の
Korean: 대량의
European Portuguese: de massa
Latin American Spanish: masivo
British English: mass VERB
When people or things mass, or when you mass them, they gather together into a large crowd or group.
Shortly after the workers went on strike, police began to mass at the shipyard.
American English: mass
Brazilian Portuguese: juntar-se em massa
Chinese: 聚集
European Spanish: concentrarse
French: s'assembler
German: sich massieren
Italian: radunarsi
Japanese: 集結させる/集結する
Korean: 모이다
European Portuguese: juntar-se em massa
Latin American Spanish: concentrarse
British English: Mass /mæs/ NOUN
Mass is a Christian church ceremony during which people eat bread and drink wine in order to remember the last meal of Jesus Christ.
She went to Mass each day.
American English: mass church
Arabic: قُدّاسُ
Brazilian Portuguese: missa
Chinese: 弥撒
Croatian: misa
Czech: mše
Danish: messe
Dutch: mis in kerk
European Spanish: misa
Finnish: messu kirkko
French: messe
German: Messe
Greek: λειτουργία εκκλησία
Italian: messa
Japanese: ミサ
Korean: 미사
Norwegian: messe
Polish: msza kościół
European Portuguese: missa
Romanian: slujbă religioasă
Russian: месса
Latin American Spanish: misa
Swedish: mässa
Thai: พิธีมิสซา
Turkish: ayin kilise
Ukrainian: меса
Vietnamese: lễ ban thánh thể
Chinese translation of 'mass'
mass
(mæs)
n
(c) (= large amount, number)[of objects, people, substance]大量 (dàliàng)