Word.ws English Dictionary

meant to say

meant to say is the simple past and past participle of mean to say.

Meaning of mean to say

Verb

mean to say (third-person singular simple present means to say, present participle meaning to say, simple past and past participle meant to say)

  1. To imply or intend to convey with one's words; used to correct or clarify one's previous utterance, or to seek such clarification.
    • "[…] It is a match that must give universal satisfaction. In short, it is a kind of thing that" — lowering his voice to an important whisper — "will be exceedingly welcome to all parties." Recollecting himself, however, he added, "That is, I mean to say—your friends are all truly anxious to see you...1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

Questions about meant to say

What is meant to say the simple past and past participle of?
Meant to say is the simple past and past participle of mean to say.

Words near meant to say in the dictionary

  1. meant everything to
  2. meant the whole world to
  3. meant the world to
  4. meant to
  5. meant to be
  6. meant to say
  7. meant well
  8. meantest
  9. meantime
  10. meantimes
  11. meantness

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: meant to say (page history and authors); mean to say (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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