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Male
A. adj. I. That belongs to the sex which can beget offspring
(contrasted with female); characteristic of or relating to this sex.
1. a. Designating the sex or (formerly) kind which can beget, but not
bear, offspring.
c. Of animals, including the human animal (cf. sense 1b).
e. Of the reproductive organs of an animal or plant: characteristic of
the males of a species; producing gametes (such as spermatozoa) that can
fertilize female gametes (ova). Also: designating such gametes, which
are usually smaller and more motile than the corresponding female gametes.
2. a. Of or relating to a man or men, or to male animals; peculiar
to or characteristic of men or male animals.
b. Appropriate or adapted to the use of a man.
B. n.
1. a. A male person; a boy or man. Chiefly in expressed or implied antithesis
with female, but also (esp. in Med.) simply as a synonym for man.
b. A male animal (including the human animal). Also fig.
1953 N. TINBERGEN Herring Gull's World
xii. 104 Such an aggressive bird is always a male. 1990 A. STEVENS On
Jung iv. 54 In virtually all species which procreate by copulation, sperms
are introduced into the female, not ova into the male.
male-like a.
1885 N.E.D. s.v. Barren a. and sb., *Male-like,
not producing offspring, sterile. 1990 J. BISHOP & M. WALDHOLZ Genome
xii. 260 In the other 'male-like' families, the alcohol abuse tended to
be the moderate-to-severe Type II alcoholism.
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