mean

the golden mean: seegolden.

mean business be in earnest.

2004Harold StrachanMake a Skyf, Man! Industrial sabotage to show the big industrialists of the régime that we mean business.

mean to say really admit or intend to say.

1977Jennifer JohnstonShadows on our Skin I mean to say, Joe Logan, where are you if you can't resist putting a small white tube of poison into your mouth every half an hour?

a means to an end a thing that is not valued or important in itself but is useful in achieving an aim.

☞ End and means are compared or contrasted in several proverbial sayings, for example the end justifies the means (seeend) and he who wills the end wills the means.

no mean - a very good -.

☞ This expression was famously used by St Paul: 'I am…a Jew of Tarsus…a citizen of no mean city' (Acts 21:39).

2013The Stage Getting any afternoon showcase audience to clap along with any real enthusiasm is no mean feat.

ways and means the methods and resources at someone's disposal for achieving something.

☞In the British parliamentary system this phrase is used specifically of the various methods of raising government revenue.

1982Frank McGuinnessThe Factory Girls He said too he couldn't afford opposition and there were ways and means of getting rid of it. Everybody thinks there's definitely going to be redundancies and pay-offs.