mace

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A heavy fighting club.
  2. A ceremonial form of this weapon.
  3. A long baton used by some drum majors to keep time and lead a marching band. If this baton is referred to as a mace, by convention it has a ceremonial often decorative head, which, if of metal, usually is hollow and sometimes intricately worked.
  4. An officer who carries a mace as a token of authority.
  5. A knobbed mallet used by curriers to make leather supple when dressing it.
  6. A billiard cue.
verb
  1. To hit someone or something with a mace.
noun
  1. A spice obtained from the outer layer of the kernel of the fruit of the nutmeg.
noun
  1. Tear gas or pepper spray, especially for personal use.
verb
  1. To spray in defense or attack with mace (pepper spray or tear gas) using a hand-held device.
  2. To spray a similar noxious chemical in defense or attack using an available hand-held device such as an aerosol spray can.
noun
  1. An old money of account in China equal to one tenth of a tael.
  2. An old weight of 57.98 grains, approximately 3.8 grams.
name
  1. Alternative letter-case form of mace (tear gas or pepper spray)
  2. A male given name, a name derived from the war instrument, a mace
  3. A surname.
  4. An English surname transferred from the given name.
  5. A surname from Norman.
  6. An unincorporated community in Walnut Township, Montgomery County, Indiana, United States.
noun
  1. Initialism of major adverse cardiovascular event.

Pronunciation

/meɪs/ en-us-mace.ogg

Word forms

mace maces macing maced

Etymology

From Middle English mace, borrowed from Old French mace, mache, from Vulgar Latin *mattia, *mattea, matia, (compare Italian mazza, Spanish maza), probably from Proto-West Germanic *mattjō (“cutting tool, hoe”).

Synonyms

Related words

bludgeon celt twirling baton warclub
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