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male Definition

male (māl)

adjective

  1. designating or of the sex that fertilizes the ovum of the female and begets offspring: biological symbol, ♂
  2. of, characteristic of, or suitable for members of this sex; masculine; virile
  3. consisting of men or boys
  4. designating or having a part shaped to fit into a corresponding hollow part (called female): said of pipe fittings, electric plugs, etc.
  5. Bot.
    1. having stamens or antheridia and no carpels, archegonia, or oogonia
    2. designating or of a reproductive structure or part producing spermatozoids that can fertilize the female eggs

Etymology: ME < OFr male, masle < L masculus < mas (gen. maris), a male, man

noun

  1. a male person; man or boy
  2. a male animal or plant

male Related Forms
male′·ness noun
male Synonyms

male

modif.

masculine, manly, manlike, manful, virile, macho, vigorous, potent, staminate, he*; see also manly, masculine 2.

male is the basic term applied to members of the sex that is biologically distinguished from the female sex and is used of animals and plants as well as of human beings; masculine is applied to qualities, such as strength and vigor, traditionally ascribed to men, or to things thought to be characteristic of or appropriate to men; manly suggests the generally desirable qualities, such as courage and independence, that a culture ideally associates with a man who has maturity of character; mannish, used chiefly of women, is most often used derogatorily and implies the possession or adoption of traits and manners thought to be more appropriate to a man; virile stresses qualities such as robustness, vigor, and, specif., sexual potency, that belong to a physically mature man

male Synonyms

male

n.

man, fellow, guy*, male sex, man-child, he; see also boy, father, man 2.

male Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • neuter: A neutered male will be able to have other rabbit friends, without fear of agression or breeding.
  • castrate: Nessa: We´re just a bunch of angry chicks who are prepared to castrate any male at any time.
  • outnumber: Women in Focus: The position of women in Scottish society Females outnumber males in Scotland.
  • perch: Later I see the male perched on a plant at the back of the herb bed.

Preposition: in

  • plumage: A total of 155 Steller's were counted, of which 16 were beautiful males in full breeding plumage - the jackpot!

Adjective modifier

  • immature: The pedipalp ends of immature males, and of females of any age, look like the ends of the walking legs.
  • dominant: The cues used by females may provide reliable information about the quality of the dominant male in each queue.
  • juvenile: This three-year-old was one of only 2 juvenile males recorded on Furzey Island that year.
  • white: The second man was a white male in his fifties with gray hair.
  • able-bodied: In modern Switzerland every able-bodied male must keep an ' assault rifle ' in his home, and train in its use.
  • stunning: First bird up was a stunning male Orange-breasted Bunting, closely followed by an Ash-throated Flycatcher.

Modifies a noun

  • counterpart: At the same time, the female figures are completed with male counterparts.
  • heir: In every generation a male heir is born to the chiefs to become the people's leader.
  • dancer: Once again the Company can boast 25 % male dancers.
  • infertility: Learn more about female and male infertility, IVF, adoption, and fertility drugs.
  • colleague: Mr. and Mrs. David Cox Mr. David Cox Married couple where only the husband is well known e.g. a male work colleague.
  • comparator: Equal value claims were lodged in August 1997 for 14 different working categories, using 5 different male comparators.

Noun used with modifier

  • alpha: It began in the troupe, where everyone obeys the alpha male; it continued with the tribe, and the clan.
  • heir: In 1486 the manor was granted to John de Vere earl of Oxford and the heirs male of his body, ( fn.
  • adult: Firefighters rescued one adult male from grass banking using line rescue equipment.
male Quotes

   4. The chosen and male shall go forth unto professions while the chosen and female shall be homely, fecund, docile and slightly artistic.

—Kennedy, A(lison) L(ouise)

How beastly the bourgeois is Especially the male of the species.

—Lawrence, D(avid) H(erbert)

Until a woman is free to be as incompetent as the average male then she will never be completely equal.

—Cunningham, Roseanna

'Beauty' is a currency like the gold standard. Like any economy it is determined by politics, and in the modern age in theWest it isthe last, best belief systemthat keeps male domination intact.

—Wolf, Naomi

Early to rise and early to bed makes a male healthyand wealthyand dead.

—Thurber,James Grover

And God said, Let us create man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepethuponthe earth. So God createdmaninhis own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them,Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

—Bible (Old Testament)

By act of Congress, male officers are gentlemen, but by act of God, we are ladies.

—Cadoria, Brigadier General Sherian G(race)

  The male quality is the creative gift.

—Hopkins, SirAnthony

To me the'female principle' is, or at least historically has been, basically anarchic. It values order without constraint, rule by custom not by force. It has been the male who enforces order, who constructs power Lehmann-Haupt structures, who makes, enforces, and breaks laws.

—Le Guin, Ursula ne¤  e Kroeber

The female of the species is more deadly than the male.

—Kipling, (Joseph) Rudyard

There isneither Jew nor Greek, there isneither bond nor free, there isneither malenor female: for yeareall onein Christ Jesus. 122

—Bible (NewTestament)

There is, of course, no reason for the existence of the male sex except that one sometimes needs help with moving the piano.

—West, Dame Rebecca formerly  Cecily Isabel Fairfield

   Then, the cool kindliness of sheets, that soon Smooth away trouble; and the rough male kiss Of blankets.

—Brooke, Rupert Chawner

The self-worship of the monarch, or of the feudal superior, is matched by the self-worship of the male.

—Mill,John Stuart

In the sex war thoughtlessness is the weapon of the male, vindictiveness of the female.

—Connolly, Cyril Vernon

Ye Lilies male! think (as your tea you sip, While theTown small-talk flows from lip to lip; Intrigues half-gathered, conversation-scraps, Kitchen-cabals, and nursery-mishaps), If the vast world may not some scene produce, Some state where your small talents might have use.

—Crabbe, George