| mercerise | (verb) treat to strengthen and improve the luster | Synonyms: mercerize |
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| merchandise | (noun) items for sale to the individual consumer | Synonyms: product, ware |
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| (noun) branded products meant to promote another product, especially films and pop groups | Synonyms: merchandising |
| (verb) engage in the trade of | Synonyms: trade |
| mesmerise | (verb) induce hypnosis in | Synonyms: hypnotise, hypnotize, mesmerize |
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| (verb) attract strongly, as if with a magnet | Synonyms: bewitch, magnetise, magnetize, mesmerize, spellbind |
| metabolise | (verb) produce by metabolism | Synonyms: metabolize |
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| metamorphose | (verb) change completely the nature or appearance of | Synonyms: transfigure, transmogrify |
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| (verb) change in outward structure or looks | Synonyms: transform, transmute |
| metaphase | (noun) the second stage of mitosis | - |
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| (noun) the second stage of meiosis | - |
| metastasise | (verb) spread throughout the body | Synonyms: metastasize |
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| metricise | (verb) convert from a non-metric to the metric system | Synonyms: metricate, metricize, metrify |
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| (verb) express in the metric system | Synonyms: metricize |
| militarise | (verb) adopt for military use | Synonyms: militarize |
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| (verb) lend a military character to (a country), as by building up a military force | Synonyms: militarize |
| miniaturise | (verb) design or construct on a smaller scale | Synonyms: miniaturize |
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| minimise | (verb) make small or insignificant | Synonyms: minimize |
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| (verb) represent as less significant or important | Synonyms: downplay, minimize, understate |
| misadvise | (verb) give bad advice to | Synonyms: misguide |
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| misuse | (noun) improper or excessive use | Synonyms: abuse |
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| (verb) change the inherent purpose or function of something | Synonyms: abuse, pervert |
| (verb) apply to a wrong thing or person; apply badly or incorrectly | Synonyms: misapply |
| mobilise | (verb) cause to move around | Synonyms: mobilize |
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| (verb) make ready for action or use | Synonyms: marshal, mobilize, summon |
| (verb) get ready for war | Synonyms: mobilize |
| (verb) call to arms; of military personnel | Synonyms: call up, mobilize, rally |
| modernise | (verb) make repairs, renovations, revisions or adjustments to | Synonyms: modernize, overhaul |
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| (verb) become technologically advanced | Synonyms: develop, modernize |
| moisturise | (verb) make (more) humid | Synonyms: humidify, moisturize |
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| monetise | (verb) give legal value to or establish as the legal tender of a country | Synonyms: monetize |
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| mongoose | (noun) agile grizzled Old World viverrine; preys on snakes and rodents | - |
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| mongrelise | (verb) cause to become a mongrel | Synonyms: mongrelize |
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| monologuise | (verb) talk to oneself | Synonyms: monologuize, soliloquise, soliloquize |
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| monopolise | (verb) have or exploit a monopoly of | Synonyms: monopolize |
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| (verb) have and control fully and exclusively | Synonyms: monopolize |
| monosaccharose | (noun) a sugar (like sucrose or fructose) that does not hydrolyse to give other sugars; the simplest group of carbohydrates | Synonyms: monosaccharide, simple sugar |
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| monumentalise | (verb) record or memorialize lastingly with a monument | Synonyms: monumentalize |
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| moose | (noun) large northern deer with enormous flattened antlers in the male; called `elk' in Europe and `moose' in North America | Synonyms: Alces alces, elk |
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| moralise | (verb) improve the morals of | Synonyms: moralize |
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| (verb) speak as if delivering a sermon; express moral judgements | Synonyms: moralize, preachify, sermonise, sermonize |
| (verb) interpret the moral meaning of | Synonyms: moralize |
| morose | (adjective) showing a brooding ill humor | Synonyms: dark, dour, glowering, glum, moody, saturnine, sour, sullen |
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| mortise | (noun) a square hole made to receive a tenon and so to form a joint | Synonyms: mortice |
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| (verb) join by a tenon and mortise | Synonyms: mortice |
| (verb) cut a hole for a tenon in | Synonyms: mortice |
| motherese | (noun) an adult's imitation of the speech of a young child | Synonyms: baby talk, babytalk |
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| motorise | (verb) equip with armed and armored motor vehicles | Synonyms: mechanise, mechanize, motorize |
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| mouse | (noun) any of numerous small rodents typically resembling diminutive rats having pointed snouts and small ears on elongated bodies with slender usually hairless tails | - |
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| (noun) a hand-operated electronic device that controls the coordinates of a cursor on your computer screen as you move it around on a pad; on the bottom of the device is a ball that rolls on the surface of the pad | Synonyms: computer mouse |
| (noun) person who is quiet or timid | - |
| (noun) a swollen bruise caused by a blow to the eye | Synonyms: black eye, shiner |
| (verb) manipulate the mouse of a computer | - |
| (verb) to go stealthily or furtively | Synonyms: creep, pussyfoot, sneak |
| mousse | (noun) toiletry consisting of an aerosol foam used in hair styling | Synonyms: hair mousse |
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| (noun) a light creamy dish made from fish or meat and set with gelatin | - |
| (noun) a rich, frothy, creamy dessert made with whipped egg whites and heavy cream | - |
| (verb) apply a styling gel to | Synonyms: gel |
| mucose | (adjective) of or secreting or covered with or resembling mucus | Synonyms: mucous |
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| multiphase | (adjective) of an electrical system that uses or generates two or more alternating voltages of the same frequency but differing in phase angle | Synonyms: polyphase |
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| multipurpose | (adjective) having multiple uses | - |
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| muramidase | (noun) an enzyme found in saliva and sweat and tears that destroys the cell walls of certain bacteria | Synonyms: lysozyme |
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| muse | (noun) the source of an artist's inspiration | - |
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| (verb) reflect deeply on a subject | Synonyms: chew over, contemplate, excogitate, meditate, mull, mull over, ponder, reflect, ruminate, speculate, think over |
| mythicise | (verb) make into a myth | Synonyms: mythicize, mythologise, mythologize |
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| (verb) interpret as a myth or in terms of mythology | Synonyms: mythicize |
| mythologise | (verb) make into a myth | Synonyms: mythicise, mythicize, mythologize |
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| (verb) construct a myth | Synonyms: mythologize |
| narcotise | (verb) administer narcotics to | Synonyms: narcotize |
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| nasalise | (verb) pronounce with a lowered velum | Synonyms: nasalize |
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| (verb) speak nasally or through the nose | Synonyms: nasalize |
| nationalise | (verb) put under state control or ownership | Synonyms: nationalize |
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| (verb) make national in character or scope | Synonyms: nationalize |
| naturalise | (verb) make into a citizen | Synonyms: naturalize |
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| (verb) make more natural or lifelike | Synonyms: naturalize |
| (verb) adopt to another place | Synonyms: naturalize |
| (verb) adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment | Synonyms: cultivate, domesticate, naturalize, tame |
| nebulose | (adjective) lacking definite form or limits | Synonyms: cloudy, nebulous |
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| necrose | (verb) undergo necrosis | Synonyms: gangrene, mortify, sphacelate |
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| neutralise | (verb) make chemically neutral | Synonyms: neutralize |
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| (verb) make ineffective by counterbalancing the effect of | Synonyms: negate, neutralize, nullify |
| (verb) make incapable of military action | Synonyms: neutralize |
| (verb) get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing | Synonyms: do in, knock off, liquidate, neutralize, waste |
| nitrocellulose | (noun) a nitric acid ester; used in lacquers and explosives | Synonyms: cellulose nitrate, guncotton, nitrocotton |
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| nitrogenase | (noun) an enzyme of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms that catalyzes the conversion of nitrogen to ammonia | - |
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| nitrogenise | (verb) treat with nitrogen or a nitrogen compound | Synonyms: nitrify, nitrogenize |
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| noblesse | (noun) members of the nobility (especially of the French nobility) | - |
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| (noun) the state of being of noble birth | Synonyms: nobility |
| nodulose | (adjective) having minute nodules | - |
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| noise | (noun) the quality of lacking any predictable order or plan | Synonyms: haphazardness, randomness, stochasticity |
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| (noun) incomprehensibility resulting from irrelevant information or meaningless facts or remarks | - |
| (noun) the auditory experience of sound that lacks musical quality; sound that is a disagreeable auditory experience | Synonyms: dissonance, racket |
| (noun) a loud outcry of protest or complaint | - |
| (noun) sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound) | - |
| (noun) electrical or acoustic activity that can disturb communication | Synonyms: disturbance, interference |
| (verb) emit a noise | Synonyms: make noise, resound |
| nonsense | (adjective) having no intelligible meaning | Synonyms: nonsensical |
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| (noun) ornamental objects of no great value | Synonyms: falderol, folderal, frill, gimcrack, gimcrackery, trumpery |
| (noun) a message that seems to convey no meaning | Synonyms: bunk, hokum, meaninglessness, nonsensicality |
| noose | (noun) a trap for birds or small mammals; often has a slip noose | Synonyms: gin, snare |
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| (noun) a loop formed in a cord or rope by means of a slipknot; it binds tighter as the cord or rope is pulled | Synonyms: running noose, slip noose |
| (verb) secure with a noose | - |
| (verb) make a noose in or of | - |
| normalise | (verb) make normal or cause to conform to a norm or standard | Synonyms: normalize, renormalise, renormalize |
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| (verb) become normal or return to its normal state | Synonyms: normalize |
| nose | (noun) a front that resembles a human nose (especially the front of an aircraft) | - |
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| (noun) a projecting spout from which a fluid is discharged | Synonyms: nozzle |
| (noun) the front or forward projection of a tool or weapon | - |
| (noun) the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals | Synonyms: olfactory organ |
| (noun) the sense of smell (especially in animals) | - |
| (noun) a natural skill | - |
| (noun) a symbol of inquisitiveness | - |
| (noun) a small distance | - |
| (verb) defeat by a narrow margin | - |
| (verb) rub noses | Synonyms: nuzzle |
| (verb) push or move with the nose | - |
| (verb) advance the forward part of with caution | - |
| (verb) search or inquire in a meddlesome way | Synonyms: horn in, intrude, poke, pry |
| (verb) catch the scent of; get wind of | Synonyms: scent, wind |
| notarise | (verb) authenticate as a notary | Synonyms: notarize |
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| notecase | (noun) a pocket-size case for holding papers and paper money | Synonyms: billfold, pocketbook, wallet |
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| novelise | (verb) convert into the form or the style of a novel | Synonyms: fictionalise, fictionalize, novelize |
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| nowise | (adverb) in no manner | Synonyms: to no degree |
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| nuclease | (noun) general term for enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of nucleic acid by cleaving chains of nucleotides into smaller units | - |
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| nurse | (noun) one skilled in caring for young children or the sick (usually under the supervision of a physician) | - |
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| (noun) a woman who is the custodian of children | Synonyms: nanny, nursemaid |
| (verb) try to cure by special care of treatment, of an illness or injury | - |
| (verb) give suck to | Synonyms: breastfeed, give suck, lactate, suck, suckle, wet-nurse |
| (verb) maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings) | Synonyms: bear, entertain, harbor, harbour, hold |
| (verb) serve as a nurse; care for sick or handicapped people | - |
| (verb) treat carefully | - |
| nutcase | (noun) someone deranged and possibly dangerous | Synonyms: crazy, looney, loony, weirdo |
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| nuthouse | (noun) pejorative terms for an insane asylum | Synonyms: Bedlam, booby hatch, crazy house, cuckoo's nest, funny farm, funny house, loony bin, madhouse, nut house, sanatorium, snake pit |
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| obese | (adjective) excessively fat | Synonyms: corpulent, rotund, weighty |
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| obtuse | (adjective) of an angle; between 90 and 180 degrees | - |
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| (adjective) (of a leaf shape) rounded at the apex | - |
| (adjective) slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity | Synonyms: dense, dim, dull, dumb, slow |
| (adjective) lacking in insight or discernment | Synonyms: purblind |
| obverse | (noun) the side of a coin or medal bearing the principal stamp or design | - |
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| (noun) the more conspicuous of two alternatives or cases or sides | - |
| occidentalise | (verb) make western in character | Synonyms: occidentalize, westernise, westernize |
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| odourise | (verb) cause to smell or be smelly | Synonyms: odorize, scent |
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| offense | (noun) the action of attacking an enemy | Synonyms: offence, offensive |
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| (noun) a transgression that constitutes a violation of what is judged to be right | Synonyms: offence |
| (noun) a lack of politeness; a failure to show regard for others; wounding the feelings of others | Synonyms: discourtesy, offence, offensive activity |
| (noun) a feeling of anger caused by being offended | Synonyms: offence, umbrage |
| (noun) the team that has the ball (or puck) and is trying to score | Synonyms: offence |
| officialese | (noun) the style of writing characteristic of some government officials: formal and obscure | - |
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| officialise | (verb) make official | Synonyms: officialize |
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| oligoclase | (noun) any of a series of triclinic feldspars that form rocks | Synonyms: plagioclase |
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| opalise | (verb) replace or convert into opal | Synonyms: opalize |
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| (verb) make opalescent | Synonyms: opalize |
| operose | (adjective) characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort | Synonyms: arduous, backbreaking, grueling, gruelling, hard, heavy, laborious, punishing, toilsome |
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| oppose | (verb) be resistant to | Synonyms: contradict, controvert |
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| (verb) be against; express opposition to | - |
| (verb) set into opposition or rivalry | Synonyms: match, pit, play off |
| (verb) fight against or resist strongly | Synonyms: defend, fight, fight back, fight down |
| (verb) act against or in opposition to | Synonyms: react |
| (verb) contrast with equal weight or force | Synonyms: counterbalance |
| optimise | (verb) act as an optimist and take a sunny view of the world | Synonyms: optimize |
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| (verb) make optimal; get the most out of; use best | Synonyms: optimize |
| (verb) modify to achieve maximum efficiency in storage capacity or time or cost | Synonyms: optimize |
| organise | (verb) bring order and organization to | Synonyms: coordinate, organize |
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| (verb) plan and direct (a complex undertaking) | Synonyms: direct, engineer, mastermind, orchestrate, organize |
| (verb) arrange by systematic planning and united effort | Synonyms: devise, get up, machinate, organize, prepare |
| (verb) cause to be structured or ordered or operating according to some principle or idea | Synonyms: organize |
| (verb) create (as an entity) | Synonyms: form, organize |
| (verb) form or join a union | Synonyms: organize, unionise, unionize |
| orientalise | (verb) make oriental in character | Synonyms: orientalize |
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| orthoclase | (noun) a white or colored monoclinic feldspar | - |
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| ostracise | (verb) avoid speaking to or dealing with | Synonyms: ostracize |
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| (verb) expel from a community or group | Synonyms: ban, banish, blackball, cast out, ostracize, shun |
| otherwise | (adjective) other than as supposed or expected | - |
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| (adverb) in other respects or ways | - |
| (adverb) in another and different manner | Synonyms: differently |
| otiose | (adjective) disinclined to work or exertion | Synonyms: faineant, indolent, lazy, slothful, work-shy |
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| (adjective) producing no result or effect | Synonyms: futile, ineffectual, meaningless, unavailing |
| (adjective) serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being | Synonyms: pointless, purposeless, senseless, superfluous, wasted |
| outercourse | (noun) sexual stimulation without vaginal penetration | - |
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| outhouse | (noun) a small outbuilding with a bench having holes through which a user can defecate | Synonyms: earth-closet, jakes, privy |
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| overcapitalise | (verb) capitalize beyond what the business or the profit-making prospects warrant | Synonyms: overcapitalize |
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| (verb) overestimate the market value of | Synonyms: overcapitalize |
| (verb) estimate the capital value of (a company) at an unreasonably or unlawfully high level | Synonyms: overcapitalize |
| overdose | (verb) dose too heavily | Synonyms: o.d. |
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| overdramatise | (verb) present in an overly dramatic manner | Synonyms: overdramatize |
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| overemphasise | (verb) place special or excessive emphasis on | Synonyms: overemphasize, overstress |
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| overexpose | (verb) expose excessively | - |
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| (verb) expose to too much light | - |
| overgeneralise | (verb) draw too general a conclusion | Synonyms: overgeneralize |
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| overpraise | (noun) excessive or undeserved praise. | - |
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| (verb) praise excessively | - |
| overspecialise | (verb) become overly specialized | Synonyms: overspecialize |
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| overuse | (noun) exploitation to the point of diminishing returns | Synonyms: overexploitation, overutilisation, overutilization |
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| (verb) make use of too often or too extensively | Synonyms: overdrive |
| oxidase | (noun) any of the enzymes that catalyze biological oxidation | - |
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| oxidise | (verb) add oxygen to or combine with oxygen | Synonyms: oxidate, oxidize |
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| (verb) enter into a combination with oxygen or become converted into an oxide | Synonyms: oxidate, oxidize |
| oxidoreductase | (noun) an enzyme that catalyzes oxidation-reduction | - |
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| oxygenase | (noun) an oxidoreductase that catalyzes the incorporation of molecular oxygen | - |
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| oxygenise | (verb) impregnate, combine, or supply with oxygen | Synonyms: aerate, oxygenate, oxygenize |
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| (verb) dehydrogenate with oxygen | Synonyms: oxygenize |
| (verb) change (a compound) by increasing the proportion of the electronegative part; or change (an element or ion) from a lower to a higher positive valence: remove one or more electrons from (an atom, ion, or molecule) | Synonyms: oxygenize |
| ozonise | (verb) convert (oxygen) into ozone | Synonyms: ozonize |
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| packhorse | (noun) a workhorse used as a pack animal | - |
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