a body of coherent matter, usually of indefinite shape and often of considerable size: a mass of dough.
Medicine/Medical, Pathology. an abnormal lump in the body, often in the form of a cyst or tumor: The mass they removed was alarmingly large, but the great news is that it was benign.
a collection of incoherent particles, parts, or objects regarded as forming one body: a mass of sand.
aggregate; whole (usually preceded by in the): People, in the mass, mean well.
a considerable assemblage, number, or quantity: a mass of errors; a mass of troops.
bulk, size, expanse, or massiveness: towers of great mass and strength.
Fine Arts.
Painting.an expanse of color or tone that defines form or shape in general outline rather than in detail.
a shape or three-dimensional volume that has or gives the illusion of having weight, density, and bulk.
the main body, bulk, or greater part of anything: the great mass of American films.
Physics. the quantity of matter as determined from its weight or from Newton's second law of motion. Abbreviation: mCompare weight (def. 2), relativistic mass, rest mass.
Pharmacology. a preparation of thick, pasty consistency, from which pills are made.
the masses,the ordinary or common people as a whole; the working classes or the lower social classes.
adjective
pertaining to, involving, or affecting a large number of people: mass unemployment; mass migrations.
affecting a number of people, but more than two and typically a large number: mass murder;a mass shooting.
participated in or performed by a large number of people, especially together in a group: mass demonstrations; mass suicide.
pertaining to, involving, or characteristic of the mass of the people: the mass mind; a movie designed to appeal to a mass audience.
reaching or designed to reach a large number of people: television, newspapers, and other means of mass communication.
done on a large scale or in large quantities: mass destruction.
verb (used without object)
to come together in or form a mass or masses: The clouds are massing in the west.
verb (used with object)
to gather into or dispose in a mass or masses; assemble: The houses are massed in blocks.
Origin of mass
First recorded in1350–1400; Middle English masse, from Latin massa “mass,” from Greek mâza “barley cake,” akin to mássein “to knead”
the celebration of the Eucharist.Compare High Mass, Low Mass.
(sometimes lowercase) a musical setting of certain parts of this service, as the Kyrie eleison, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei.
Origin of Mass
before 900; Middle English masse,Old English mæsse<Vulgar Latin *messa,Late Latin missa, formally feminine of Latin missus, past participle of mittere to send, dismiss; perhaps extracted from a phrase in the service with missa est and a feminine subject
The photo shows a large and dense mass of smoke all over the US' West Coast, all the way down from Oregon to Southern California.
West Coast wildfire smoke is visible from outer space|María Paula Rubiano A.|September 16, 2020|Popular Science
Exceptional continental record of biotic recovery after the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction.
Dawn of the Heliocene - Issue 90: Something Green|Summer Praetorius|September 16, 2020|Nautilus
The ambition of the Green Deal will not pan out without mass production.
Europe’s leaders want to create a ‘new Bauhaus’ as part of its Green Deal. But what does that even mean?|David Meyer|September 16, 2020|Fortune
Unlike many creatures, it survived the massive volcanic eruptions in what’s now Siberia that upset the chemistry of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans and probably triggered the Permian mass extinction about 252 million years ago.
Ancient Lystrosaurus tusks may show the oldest signs of a hibernation-like state|Susan Milius|September 16, 2020|Science News
Next time, I could weigh my results, and make sure that I poured out the same mass of water each time.
Build ice towers with bottled water and ice|Bethany Brookshire|September 16, 2020|Science News For Students
Their bodies were later found incinerated and buried in mass graves outside of town.
Why Mexicans Are Enraged by Obama’s Big Tuesday Meeting|Ruben Navarrette Jr.|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“The United States had gone to war declaring it must destroy an active weapons of mass destruction program,” the Times reported.
Political Memes That Absolutely Must Die in 2015|Asawin Suebsaeng|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Google itself has taken a break and put plans for mass production on hold.
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There were mass closures of churches, mosques, and monasteries, and new taxes on religious facilities.
Remembering the Russian Priest Who Fought the Orthodox Church|Cathy Young|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The number of protests in China between 2006 and 2010 doubled to 180,000, and those are only the reported “mass incidents.”
China’s Internet Is Freer Than You Think|Brendon Hong|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Inside, a sweating adjutant toiled at a mass of papers on the desk before him.
Our Casualty And Other Stories|James Owen Hannay, AKA George A. Birmingham
Elizabeth had loved Edward, would she not go with Mary to hear a mass for the repose of his soul?
In the Days of Queen Elizabeth|Eva March Tappan
It was too dark for her to see his efforts to show her a way out of the mass of fallen rubbish.
Chatterbox, 1906|Various
It cannot be accounted for entirely by the friction, as the removal of the paper allows the sand to drop in a mass.
Pressure, Resistance, and Stability of Earth|J. C. Meem
Apparently education was never designed in Belgium for the mass of the people.
Behind the Scenes in Warring Germany|Edward Lyell Fox
British Dictionary definitions for mass (1 of 3)
mass
/ (mæs) /
noun
a large coherent body of matter without a definite shape
a collection of the component parts of something
a large amount or number, such as a great body of people
the main part or majoritythe mass of the people voted against the government's policy
in the massin the main; collectively
the size of a body; bulk
physicsa physical quantity expressing the amount of matter in a body. It is a measure of a 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 equalSee also inertial mass, gravitational mass
(in painting, drawing, etc) an area of unified colour, shade, or intensity, usually denoting a solid form or plane
pharmacola pastelike composition of drugs from which pills are made
miningan irregular deposit of ore not occurring in veins
adjective
done or occurring on a large scalemass hysteria; mass radiography
consisting of a mass or large number, esp of peoplea mass meeting
verb
to form (people or things) or (of people or things) to join together into a massthe crowd massed outside the embassy
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
British Dictionary definitions for mass (2 of 3)
Mass
/ (mæs, mɑːs) /
noun
(in the Roman Catholic Church and certain Protestant Churches) the celebration of the EucharistSee also High Mass, Low Mass
a musical setting of those parts of the Eucharistic service sung by choir or congregation
Word Origin for Mass
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
In physics, the property of matter that measures its resistance to acceleration. Roughly, the mass of an object is a measure of the number of atoms in it. The basic unit of measurement for mass is the kilogram. (See Newton's laws of motion; compare weight.)
Cultural definitions for mass (2 of 3)
Mass
In music, a musical setting for the texts used in the Christian Church at the celebration of the Mass, or sacrament of Communion. Most Masses have been written for use in the Roman Catholic Church.
notes for Mass
Many composers have written Masses; among them are Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Josef Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, Leonard Bernstein, and Duke Ellington.
Cultural definitions for mass (3 of 3)
Mass
The common name in the Roman Catholic Church, and among some members of the Anglican Communion, for the sacrament of Communion.
notes for Mass
In the Middle Ages in England, mass meant a religious feast day in honor of a specific person; thus, “Christ's Mass,” or Christmas, is the feast day of Christ; and Michaelmas is the feast day of the angel Michael.
A grouping of individual parts or elements that compose a unified body of unspecified size or quantity.
The physical volume or bulk of a solid body.
The measure of the quantity of matter that a body or an object contains. The mass of the body is not dependent on gravity and therefore is different from but proportional to its weight.
A thick, pasty pharmacological mixture containing drugs from which pills are formed.
One of the seven fundamental SI units, the kilogram.
A measure of the amount of matter contained in or constituting a physical body. In classical mechanics, the mass of an object is related to the force required to accelerate it and hence is related to its inertia, and is essential to Newton's laws of motion. Objects that have mass interact with each other through the force of gravity. In Special Relativity, the observed mass of an object is dependent on its velocity with respect to the observer, with higher velocity entailing higher observed mass. Mass is measured in many different units; in most scientific applications, the SI unit of kilogram is used. See Note at weight. See also rest energyGeneral Relativity.