meanin'

Noun

meaning (countable and uncountable, plural meanings)

1. (expressions or symbols) The denotation, referent, or idea connected with a word, expression, or symbol.
   • Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   value, acceptation, definition, parsing, sense

2. (expressions or symbols) The connotation associated with a word, expression, or symbol.

   Synonyms:

   value, significance, flavor, implication, import, insinuation, tone, purport

3. The purpose, value, or significance (of something) beyond the fact of that thing's existence.
   • Near-synonyms: meaningfulness, point, purpose, significance, use

   Synonyms:

   meaningfulness, point, purpose, significance, use

   Antonyms:

   meaninglessness, pointlessness, purposelessness, uselessness, randomness

4. Intention.
   • It was their meaning to take what they needed by strong hand.c. 1610?, Walter Raleigh, A Discourse of War

   Synonyms:

   aim, goal, intent, plan, purport

See all 6 meanings of meaning