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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Male \Male\, n.
1. An animal of the male sex.
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2. (Bot.) A plant bearing only staminate flowers.
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Mal- \Mal-\ (m[a^]l-).
A prefix in composition denoting ill, or evil, F. male, adv.,
fr. malus, bad, ill. In some words it has the form {male-},
as in malediction, malevolent. See {Malice}.
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Note: The form male- is chiefly used in cases where the e,
either alone or with other letters, is pronounced as a
separate syllable, as in malediction, malefactor,
maleficent, etc. Where this is not the case, as in
malfeasance or male-feasance, malformation or
male-formation, etc., as also where the word to which
it is prefixed commences with a vowel, as in
maladministration, etc., the form mal is to be
preferred, and is the one commonly employed.
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Male- \Male-\ (m[a^]l- or m[a^]l[-e]-).
See {Mal-}.
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Male \Male\ (m[=a]l), a. [L. malus. See {Malice}.]
Evil; wicked; bad. [Obs.] --Marston.
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Male \Male\, n.
Same as {Mail}, a bag. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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Male \Male\, a. [F. m[^a]le, OF. masle, mascle, fr. L. masculus
male, masculine, dim. of mas a male; possibly akin to E. man.
Cf. {Masculine}, {Marry}, v. t.]
1. Of or pertaining to the sex that begets or procreates
young, or (in a wider sense) to the sex that produces
spermatozoa, by which the ova are fertilized; not female;
as, male organs.
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2. (Bot.) Capable of producing fertilization, but not of
bearing fruit; -- said of stamens and antheridia, and of
the plants, or parts of plants, which bear them.
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3. Suitable to the male sex; characteristic or suggestive of
a male; masculine; as, male courage.
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4. Consisting of males; as, a male choir.
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5. (Mech.) Adapted for entering another corresponding piece
(the female piece) which is hollow and which it fits; as,
a male gauge, for gauging the size or shape of a hole; a
male screw, etc.
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{Male fern} (Bot.), a fern of the genus {Aspidium} ({Aspidium
Filixmas}), used in medicine as an anthelmintic, esp.
against the tapeworm. {Aspidium marginale} in America, and
{Aspidium athamanticum} in South Africa, are used as good
substitutes for the male fern in medical practice. See
{Female fern}, under {Female}.

{Male rhyme}, a rhyme in which only the last syllables agree,
as laid, afraid, dismayed. See {Female rhyme}, under
{Female}.

{Male screw} (Mech.), a screw having threads upon its
exterior which enter the grooves upon the inside of a
corresponding nut or female screw.

{Male thread}, the thread of a male screw.
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