mean
     adj 1: approximating the statistical norm or average or expected
            value; "the average income in New England is below
            that of the nation"; "of average height for his age";
            "the mean annual rainfall" [syn: {average}, {mean(a)}]
     2: characterized by malice; "a hateful thing to do"; "in a mean
        mood" [syn: {hateful}]
     3: having or showing an ignoble lack of honor or morality;
        "that liberal obedience without which your army would be a
        base rabble"- Edmund Burke; "taking a mean advantage";
        "chok'd with ambition of the meaner sort"- Shakespeare;
        "something essentially vulgar and meanspirited in
        politics" [syn: {base}, {meanspirited}]
     4: excellent; "famous for a mean backhand"
     5: marked by poverty befitting a beggar; "a beggarly existence
        in the slums"; "a mean hut" [syn: {beggarly}]
     6: used of persons or behavior; characterized by or indicative
        of lack of generosity; "a mean person"; "he left a miserly
        tip" [syn: {mingy}, {miserly}, {tight}]
     7: used of sums of money; so small in amount as to deserve
        contempt [syn: {beggarly}]
     n : an average of n numbers computed by adding some function of
         the numbers and dividing by some function of n [syn: {mean
         value}]
     v 1: mean or intend to express or convey; "You never understand
          what I mean!"; "what do his words intend?" [syn: {intend}]
     2: have as a logical consequence; "The water shortage means
        that we have to stop taking long showers" [syn: {entail},
        {imply}]
     3: denote or connote; "`maison' means `house' in French"; "An
        example sentence would show what this word means" [syn: {intend},
         {signify}, {stand for}]
     4: have in mind as a purpose; "I mean no harm"; "I only meant
        to help you"; "She didn't think to harm me"; "We thought
        to return early that night" [syn: {intend}, {think}]
     5: have a specified degree of importance; "My ex-husband means
        nothing to me"; "Happiness means everything"
     6: intend to refer to; "I'm thinking of good food when I talk
        about France"; "Yes, I meant you when I complained about
        people who gossip!" [syn: {think of}, {have in mind}]
     7: destine or designate for a certain purpose; "These flowers
        were meant for you"
     [also: {meant}]
Source: WordNet® 2.0