/mɪns/
OriginFrom Middle English mincen, minsen; partly from Old English minsian, ġeminsian (“to make less, make smaller, diminish”), from Proto-West Germanic *minnisōn, from Proto-Germanic *minnisōną (“to make less”); partly from Old French mincer, mincier (“to cut into small pieces”), from mince (“slender, slight, puny”), from Frankish *minsto, *minnisto, superlative of *min, *minn (“small, less”), from Proto-Germanic *minniz (“less”); both from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“small, little”). Cognate with Old Saxon minsōn (“to make less, make smaller”), Old Dutch minson (“to make smaller”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌽𐌶𐌽𐌰𐌽 (minznan, “to become less, diminish”), Swedish minska (“to reduce, lessen”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃 (mins, “slender, slight”). More at min.
- uncountableFinely chopped meat; minced meat.
“Mince tastes really good fried in a pan with some chopped onion and tomato.”
- uncountableFinely chopped mixed fruit used in Christmas pies; mincemeat.
“During Christmas time my dad loves to eat mince pies.”
- countableAn affected (often dainty or short and precise) gait.
“A wiry little girl in a starched, lemon-colored party dress, she sassed along with a grownup mince, one hand on her hip, the other supporting a spinsterish umbrella.”
“She was just the same; she had a light way of walking and she always wore flat heels so she didn't have that mince like most girls.”
“His skin was china pale, he walked with a slight mince, and his silver mustache was always trimmed sharp; it was his custom to send a bouquet of pink carnations to the wives of men with whom he dined.”
- countableAn affected manner, especially of speaking; an affectation.
“A very moderate degree of accomplishment in this direction would make an end of stage smart speech, which, like the got-up Oxford mince and drawl of a foolish curate, is the mark of a snob.”
“And, further, who has not heard what someone has christened the "Oxford" mince, where every consonant is mispronounced and every vowel gets a wrong value?”
“[...] a smiling man, portly and impressive, coming toward them with a dignified mince in his walk.”
- Cockney, countable, in-plural, slangAn eye (from mince pie).
“Lancashire is a bit nazi about speed and the M6 in that area can be either clear or infested with vans and their helicopter. On the good side the vans tend to be on well sighted bridges so just keep t”
- UK, slang, uncountableSomething worthless; rubbish.
“That band's new album is total mince.”
- transitiveTo make less; to make small.
- transitiveTo lessen; to diminish; to diminish in speaking; to speak of lightly or slightingly; to minimise.
- rare, transitiveTo effect mincingly.
- transitiveTo cut into very small pieces; to chop finely.
“Butchers often use machines to mince meat.”
- archaic, figuratively, transitiveTo suppress or weaken the force of.
“Siren, now mince the sin, / And mollify damnation with a phrase.”
- To say or utter vaguely (not directly or frankly).
“to mince one's words”
“a minced oath”
“I know no ways to mince it in love, but directly to say — "I love you."”
- transitiveTo affect; to pronounce affectedly or with an accent.
“In some districts of England ll is sounded like w, thus bowd (booud) for BOLD, bw (buu) for BULL, caw (kau) for CALL. But this pronunciation is merely a provincialism, and not to be imitated unless yo”
“One may hear some speakers in Oxford mince brother into brover (brëvë); Bath into Baf; both into bof.”
“"[…]The preacher said it was sympathetic," she minced the word, remembering Mr. Larsen's manner.”
- intransitiveTo walk with short steps; to walk in a prim, affected manner.
“At the last moment Mollie, the foolish, pretty white mare who drew Mr. Jones's trap, came mincing daintily in, chewing at a lump of sugar.”
“The daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, mincing as they go.”
“I'll […] turn two mincing steps into a manly stride.”
- intransitiveTo act or talk with affected nicety; to affect delicacy in manner.
“I love going to gay bars and seeing drag queens mince around on stage.”
Formsminces(plural) · minch(alternative, dialectal) · minse(alternative, obsolete) · minces(present, singular, third-person) · mincing(participle, present) · minced(participle, past) · minced(past)