masses en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈmæs.ɪz/
Meanings
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(form-of, plural) plural of mass
form of mass
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(plural, plural-only, qualifier:generically) People, especially a large number of people; the general population.
The masses were mobilized not only to perform typical activities that are part of agricultural production, but also unusual ones such as killing sparrows and rats that were reportedly competing with humans for food. For instance, in 1958, the people of Tunliu County in Shanxi Province were determined to kill all sparrows and rats within their territory.
2009, Shiping Hua, “Reforms within Communism: China”, in Chinese Utopianism: A Comparative Study of Reformist Thought with Japan and Russia, 1898-1997 (Chinese Studies/Political Theory), Woodrow Wilson Center Press; Stanford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 71:Since first tossing its cartoonish, good-time cock-rock to the masses in the early ’00s, The Darkness has always fallen back on this defense: The band is a joke, but hey, it’s a good joke. With Hot Cakes—the group’s third album, and first since reforming last year—the laughter has died. In its place is the sad wheeze of the last surviving party balloon slowly, listlessly deflating.
2012 August 21, Jason Heller, “The Darkness: Hot Cakes (Music Review)”, in The Onion AV Club:
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(form-of, plural) plural of masse
form of masse
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(plural, plural-only) The total population.
Dennis: Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
1975, Monty Python, Monty Python and the Holy Grail:The masses will be voting this Tuesday.
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(plural, plural-only) The lower classes or all but the elite.
Ken Cuccinelli tweaked the famous poem from Emma Lazarus – whose words, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” are long associated with immigration to the US and the nation’s history as a haven – as part of a case for strict new measures pushed Monday by the Trump administration that could dramatically change the legal immigration system.
2019 August 13, Devan Cole and Caroline Kelly, “Cuccinelli rewrites Statue of Liberty poem to make case for limiting immigration”, in CNN:[…] the ignorant masses […]
Deriveds
unwashed masses · tyranny of the masses
Synonyms
unwashed (lower classes)
Translations (31)
gv pobble (people, especially a large number) · be ма́сы (people, especially a large number) · ar العَامَّةُ (people, especially a large number) · ur عَوام (people, especially a large number) · th มวลชน (people, especially a large number) · ur جَمْہُور (people, especially a large number) · cmn 群眾 /群众 (people, especially a large number) · mi mātinitini (people, especially a large number) · ms orang ramai (people, especially a large number) · bg ма́си (people, especially a large number) · fa-ira جُمْهور (people, especially a large number) · ko 민중 (people, especially a large number) · lo ມວນຊົນ (people, especially a large number) · ru ма́ссы (people, especially a large number) · fa-ira عَوام (people, especially a large number) · hi जनता (people, especially a large number) · hi जमहूर (people, especially a large number) · ja 民衆 (people, especially a large number) · ar الْجَمَاهِير (people, especially a large number) · fr masses (people, especially a large number) · pl masy (people, especially a large number) · hi अवाम (people, especially a large number) · ko 군중 (people, especially a large number) · ja 大衆 (people, especially a large number) · ko 대중 (people, especially a large number) · tl masa (people, especially a large number) · de Massen (people, especially a large number) · uk ма́си (people, especially a large number) · fi massat (people, especially a large number) · es masas (people, especially a large number) · fi kansa (people, especially a large number)