MEANS definition: 1. a method or way of doing something: 2. money, for example from an income, that allows you to…. Learn more.
MEANS definition: (functioning as singular or plural) the medium, method, or instrument used to obtain a result or achieve an end See examples of means used in a sentence.
Definition of means noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. [countable] an action, an object or a system by which a result is achieved; a way of achieving or doing something. means of something Email is a highly effective means of communication. The state is in control of the means of production.
If one thing means another, it shows that the second thing exists or is true. An enlarged prostate does not necessarily mean cancer. [VERB noun] Just because he has a beard doesn't necessarily mean he's a hippy. [VERB that]
Means is most often followed by of: a means of noise reduction. But for, to, and toward are also used: a means for transmitting sound; a means to an end; a means toward achieving equality. American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Usually, means. (used with a sing. or pl. v.) an agency, instrument, or method used to attain an end: The telephone is a means of communication. There are several means of solving the problem.
The tools needed to do something can also be called the means. You don't have the means to make an art project if you need paint and feathers and you have neither.
The adjective mean can describe someone who's stingy or ungenerous, but it also means "unkind or unfair," which is what a little kid intends to convey when she yells at her mother, "You're mean!"