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2. Destitute of richness, fertility, strength, or the like; defective in quantity, or poor in quality; poor; barren; scanty
in ideas; wanting strength of diction or affluence of imagery. "Meager soil." Dryden.
Of secular habits and meager religious belief. I. Taylor.
His education had been but meager. Motley. 3. (Min.) Dry and harsh to the touch, as chalk.
Syn. — Thin; lean; lank; gaunt; starved; hungry; poor; emaciated; scanty; barren.
Meager
(Mea"ger, Mea"gre), v. t. To make lean. [Obs.]
Meagerly
(Mea"ger*ly, Mea"gre*ly), adv. Poorly; thinly.
Meagerness
(Mea"ger*ness, Mea"gre*ness), n. The state or quality of being meager; leanness; scantiness; barrenness.
Meagre
(Mea"gre) n. [F. maigre.] (Zoöl.) A large European sciænoid fish having white bloodless flesh. It
is valued as a food fish. [Written also maigre.]
Meak
(Meak) n. [Cf. AS. mece sword, OS. maki, Icel. mækir.] A hook with a long handle. [Obs.]
Tusser.
Meaking
(Meak"ing), n. [See Meak.] (Naut.) The process of picking out the oakum from the seams of
a vessel which is to be recalked.
Meaking iron (Naut.), the tool with which old oakum is picked out of a vessel's seams.
Meal
(Meal) n. [OE. mele, AS. m&aemacrl part, portion, portion of time; akin to E. meal a repast. Cf.
Piecemeal.] A part; a fragment; a portion. [Obs.]
Meal
(Meal), n. [OE. mel; akin to E. meal a part, and to D. maal time, meal, G. mal time, mahl meal,
Icel. mal measure, time, meal, Goth. mel time, and to E. measure. See Measure.] The portion of
food taken at a particular time for the satisfaction of appetite; the quantity usually taken at one time with
the purpose of satisfying hunger; a repast; the act or time of eating a meal; as, the traveler has not eaten
a good meal for a week; there was silence during the meal.
What strange fish
Hath made his meal on thee ? Shak. Meal
(Meal), n. [OE. mele, AS. melu, melo; akin to D. meel, G. mehl, OHG. melo, Icel. mjöl, SW.
mjöl, Dan. meel, also to D. malen to grind, G. mahlen, OHG., OS., & Goth. malan, Icel. mala, W.
malu, L. molere, Gr. my`lh mill, and E. mill. &radic108. Cf. Mill, Mold soil, Mole an animal, Immolate,
Molar.]
1. Grain (esp. maize, rye, or oats) that is coarsely ground and unbolted; also, a kind of flour made from
beans, pease, etc.; sometimes, any flour, esp. if coarse.
2. Any substance that is coarsely pulverized like meal, but not granulated.
Meal beetle (Zoöl.), the adult of the meal worm. See Meal worm, below. — Meal moth (Zoöl.), a
lepidopterous insect the larvæ of which feed upon meal, flour, etc. — Meal worm (Zoöl.), the larva of
a beetle (Tenebrio molitor) which infests granaries, bakehouses, etc., and is very injurious to flour and
meal.
Meal
(Meal), v. t.
1. To sprinkle with, or as with, meal. Shak.
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