mash

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: măsh, IPA^(key): /mæʃ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æʃ

Etymology 1

From Middle English mash, from Old English mǣsċ-, māsċ-, māx-, from Proto-Germanic *maiskaz, *maiskō (“mixture, mash”), from Proto-Indo-European *meyǵ-, *meyḱ- (“to mix”). Akin to German Meisch, Maische (“mash”), (compare meischen, maischen (“to mash, wash”)), Swedish mäsk (“mash”), and to Old English miscian (“to mix”). See mix.

Noun

mash (countable and uncountable, plural mashes)

1. (uncountable) A mass of mixed ingredients reduced to a soft pulpy state by beating or pressure; a mass of anything in a soft pulpy state.
2. (brewing) Ground or bruised malt, or meal of rye, wheat, corn, or other grain (or a mixture of malt and meal) steeped and stirred in hot water for making the wort.
3. (chiefly UK) Mashed potatoes.
4. A mixture of meal or bran and water fed to animals.
5. (obsolete) A mess; trouble.
   • 1609–1612, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Captaine”, in Comedies and Tragedies , London: Humphrey Robinson, , and for Humphrey Moseley , published 1647, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     For your vows and oaths, Or I doubt mainly, I shall be i' the mash " too

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English mashen, maschen, meshen, from Old English *māsċan, *mǣsċan, from Proto-Germanic *maiskijaną. Cognate with German maischen. Compare also Middle Low German meskewert, mēschewert (“beerwort”).

Verb

mash (third-person singular simple present mashes, present participle mashing, simple past and past participle mashed)

1. (transitive) To convert into a mash; to reduce to a soft pulpy state by beating or pressure

   We had fun mashing apples in a mill.

   The potatoes need to be mashed.

2. (transitive) In brewing, to convert (for example malt, or malt and meal) into the mash which makes wort.
3. (transitive, intransitive) To press down hard (on).

   to mash on a bicycle pedal

4. (transitive, Southern US, informal) To press. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
5. (transitive, UK, chiefly Northern England) To prepare a cup of tea in a teapot; to brew (tea).
   • 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Chapter 10”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. , →OCLC:

     He took the kettle off the fire and mashed the tea.

6. (intransitive, archaic) To act violently.
7. (transitive, informal, gaming) To press (a button) rapidly and repeatedly.

Synonyms

• (to reduce to a paste): pomate (obsolete)

Derived terms

• button mash
• mashing
• mashed potato, mashed potatoes
• mashup, mash up

Translations

Etymology 3

See mesh.

Noun

mash (plural mashes)

1. (obsolete) A mesh.

Etymology 4

Either by analogy with mash (“to press, to soften”), or more likely from Romani masha (“a fascinator, an enticer”), mashdva (“fascination, enticement”). Originally used in theater, and recorded in US in 1870s. Either originally used as mash, or a backformation from masher, from masha. Leland writes of the etymology:

It was introduced by the well-known gypsy family of actors, C., among whom Romany was habitually spoken. The word “masher” or “mash” means in that tongue to allure, delude, or entice. It was doubtless much aided in its popularity by its quasi-identity with the English word. But there can be no doubt as to the gypsy origin of “mash” as used on the stage. I am indebted for this information to the late well-known impresario Palmer of New York, and I made a note of it years before the term had become at all popular.

Verb

mash (third-person singular simple present mashes, present participle mashing, simple past and past participle mashed)

1. To flirt, to make eyes, to make romantic advances.

Noun

mash (plural mashes)

1. (obsolete) An infatuation, a crush, a fancy.
2. (obsolete) A dandy, a masher.
3. (obsolete) The object of one’s affections (regardless of sex).

Derived terms

• mash note
• masher

Translations

Etymology 5

Mostly clipping of machine gun, but also for imitative reasons, compare the gun-names mop and broom; intentionally chosen around 2000 due to its homonymy and obscurity for legal reasons.

Pronunciation

• (MLE, including its Irish varieties), IPA^(key): ,
• Rhymes: -æʃ

Noun

mash (plural mashes)

1. (countable, MLE, slang) A gun.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:firearm

   • 2016, “Skeng Man”, Various performers of 67 (lyrics)‎:

     This mash works but I don't know about yours […] Better hope your mash don't jam, bare ping ping like a BB […] I see a boy run with his mash, I see a boy run with his jooka […] Don't talk about mashes, we've lost about ten I know about cookers

   • 2020 July 2, “Stop Check”, Td of TPL (lyrics)‎:

     Rise that heater, tap that mash
     They don't come outside their flats
     Decamp, decamp, aim this toolie at your hat
     They piss us off on Snap, so we rise up and load them straps

   • 2021 October 19, “Exciting Freestyle”, 🇮🇪 #D15 Trigz (lyrics)‎:

     Close man’s eyes, make them look Chinese
     Or do it like tits when the mash gets squeezed
     When we squeeze that mash,
     tell your boy don’t dash
     Me I just want cash
     But if they want war let’s leave it at dat

   • 2023 August 24, “Dri-Fit”, SWiTCH (lyrics)‎GRM Daily, 0:54:

     If the mash empty, tell boy reload it

   • 2023 September 28, “Block Boy”, #Sinsquad Stewie (lyrics), 0:47:

     Shoot my gun like Tommy Shеlby
     If I get close ching him out of his LVs
     Slimey as fuck, man took that mash
     Probably takе that grub that he sell me (Take that)

Etymology 6

Noun

mash

1. Alternative form of maash (“mung bean”)

References

Anagrams

• AMHS, HMAS, HSAM, Hams, MHAs, MSHA, Mahs, SAHM, Sahm, Sham, hams, sham