The Sunday Funnies word of the week is means:
means |mēnz|plural noun1 [usu. treated as sing. ] (often means of something or means to dosomething) an action or system by which a result is brought about; a method :these pledges are a means to avoid prosecution | resolving disputes by peaceful means.2 money; financial resources : a woman of modest but independent means | prospective students without the means to attend Cornell.• resources; capability : every country in the world has the means to make ethanol.• wealth : a man of means.PHRASESbeyond (or within) one's means beyond (or within) one's budget or income : the government is living beyond its means.by all means of course; certainly (granting a permission) : “May I make a suggestion?” “By all means.”by any means (or by any manner of means) (following a negative) in any way; at all : I'm not poor by any means.by means of with the help or agency of : supplying water to cities by means of aqueducts.by no means (or by no manner of means) not at all; certainly not : the outcome is by no means guaranteed.a means to an end a thing that is not valued or important in itself but is useful in achieving an aim : a computer is merely a means to an end.ORIGIN late Middle English : plural of mean 3 , the early sense being‘intermediary.’mean 1 |mēn|verb ( past and past part. meant |ment|) [ trans. ]1 intend to convey, indicate, or refer to (a particular thing or notion); signify : Idon't know what you mean | he was asked to clarify what his remarks meant | I meant you,not Jones. See note at intend .• (of a word) have (something) as its signification in the same language or itsequivalent in another language : its name means “painted rock” in Cherokee.• genuinely intend to convey or express (something) : when she said that before, shemeant it.• ( mean something to) be of some specified importance to (someone), esp. as asource of benefit or object of affection : animals have always meant more to him thanpeople.2 intend (something) to occur or be the case : they mean no harm | [with infinitive ] it was meant to be a secret.• ( be meant to do something) be supposed or intended to do something : wewere meant to go over yesterday.• (often be meant for) design or destine for a particular purpose : the jacket was meant for a much larger person.• ( mean something by) have as a motive or excuse in explanation : what do you mean by leaving me out here in the cold?3 have as a consequence or result : the proposals are likely to mean another hundred closures| [with clause ] heavy rain meant that the ground was waterlogged.• necessarily or usually entail or involve : coal stoves mean a lot of smoke.PHRASESI mean used to clarify or correct a statement or to introduce a justification or explanation : I mean, it's not as if I owned property.mean business be in earnest.mean to say [usu. in questions ] really admit or intend to say : do you mean to say you've uncovered something new?mean well have good intentions, but not always the ability to carry them out.ORIGIN Old English mænan; related to Dutch meenen and German meinen, from an Indo-European root shared by mind .
1. Learning to become a man of means...
2. He's a man of means by all means...King of the Load.
3. Ways and Means
4. By All Means
5. Just Plain Mean
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