v. i. To become like, or full of, mother, or thick matter, as vinegar. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ OE. moder, AS. mōdor; akin to D. moeder, OS. mōdar, G. mutter, OHG. muotar, Icel. mōðir, Dan. & Sw. moder, OSlav. mati, Russ. mate, Ir. & Gael. mathair, L. mater, Gr.
Alas! poor country! . . . it can not
Be called our mother, but our grave. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
I behold . . . the solitary majesty of Crete, mother of a religion, it is said, that lived two thousand years. Landor. [ 1913 Webster ]
Mother Carey's chicken (Zool.),
Mother Carey's goose (Zool.),
Mother's mark (Med.),
a. Received by birth or from ancestors; native, natural;
It is the mother falsehood from which all idolatry is derived. T. Arnold. [ 1913 Webster ]
Mother cell (Biol.),
Mother church,
Mother country,
Mother liquor (Chem.),
Mother queen,
Mother tongue.
Mother water.
Mother wit,
v. t.
The queen, to have put lady Elizabeth besides the crown, would have mothered another body's child. Howell. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ Akin to D. modder mud, G. moder mold, mud, Dan. mudder mud, and to E. mud. See Mud. ] A film or membrane which is developed on the surface of fermented alcoholic liquids, such as vinegar, wine, etc., and acts as a means of conveying the oxygen of the air to the alcohol and other combustible principles of the liquid, thus leading to their oxidation. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ The film is composed of a mass of rapidly developing microorganisms of the genus
n. [ Shortened from motherfucker as a euphemism. ]
n. (Electronics) The board containing the main circuits of an electronic device, especially computers. The term is used primarily in microcomputer literature, where it designates the board containing the main
a. Thick, like mother; viscid. [ 1913 Webster ]
They oint their naked limbs with mothered oil. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]
n.
n. The supposed author of a book of nursery rhymes first published as “Mother Goose's Melodies, ” and usually called simply “Mother Goose.” The first English edition is said to have been printed in 1719 in London. The actual persons who composed the rhymes is unknown, and earlier similar rhymes in French are a likely source for some of them.