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Definition of "mince" []

  • To cut or chop into very small pieces. (verb-transitive)
  • To subdivide (land, for example) into minute parts. (verb-transitive)
  • To pronounce in an affected way, as with studied elegance and refinement. (verb-transitive)
  • To moderate or restrain (words) for the sake of politeness and decorum; euphemize: Don't mince words: say what you mean. (verb-transitive)
  • To walk with very short steps or with exaggerated primness. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "mince" in a sentence
  • "World War II, they mince, is the reason we got out of the Great Depression."
  • "So the mince is now turned into bolognaise (very healthy version too - no excess fat whatsoever and none of that ready made bolognaise sauce rubbish) and is happily simmering."
  • "Cromwell's Head Tavern, a building which is still standing on the north side of School Street, upon the site of No. 13, where Mrs. Harrington now deals out coffee and "mince" - pie to her customers, Beacon Hill was a collection of pastures, owned by thirteen proprietors, in lots containing from a half to twenty acres each."