mix
(mĭks) v. mixed, mix·ing, mix·es
v. tr. 1. a. To combine or blend into one mass or mixture: Mix the dry ingredients first.
b. To create or form by combining ingredients: mix a drink; mix cement.
c. To add (an ingredient or element) to another: mix an egg into batter.
2. To combine or join: mix joy with sorrow.
3. To bring into social contact: mix boys and girls in the classroom.
4. To produce (an organism) by crossbreeding.
5. a. To combine (two or more audio tracks or channels) to produce a composite audio recording.
b. To produce (a soundtrack or recording) in this manner.
v. intr. 1. a. To become combined or blended together: Stir until the eggs mix with the flour.
b. To be capable of being blended together: Oil does not mix with water.
2. To associate socially or get along with others: He does not mix well at parties.
3. To mate so as to produce a hybrid; crossbreed.
4. To become involved: In the case of a family argument, a friend should not mix in.
n. 1. a. A combination of diverse elements: The downtown has a good mix of stores and restaurants.
b. A mixture of ingredients packaged and sold commercially: a cake mix.
c. A recording that is produced by combining and adjusting two or more audio tracks or channels.
2. An animal resulting from interbreeding, especially a dog or cat of mixed breed.
Phrasal Verbs: mix down To combine all of the audio components of a recording into a final soundtrack or mix.
mix up 1. To confuse; confound: His explanation just mixed me up more. I always mix up the twins.
2. To involve or implicate: He got himself mixed up with the wrong people.
Idiom: mix it up Slang To fight.
[Back-formation from Middle English mixt, mixed, mixed, from Anglo-Norman mixte, from Latin mixtus, past participle of miscēre, to mix; see meik- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
mix′a·ble adj.
Synonyms: mix, blend, mingle, merge, amalgamate, coalesce, fuse2 These verbs mean to put into or come together in one mass so that constituent parts or elements are diffused or commingled.
Mix is the least specific:
The cook mixed eggs, flour, and sugar. Do work and play never mix? To
blend is to mix intimately and harmoniously so that the components lose their original definition:
The clerk blended mocha and java coffee beans. Snow-covered mountains blended into the clouds. Mingle implies combination without loss of individual characteristics:
"Respect was mingled with surprise" (Sir Walter Scott).
Merge and
amalgamate imply resultant homogeneity:
Tradition and innovation are merged in this new composition. Twilight merged into night. "The four sentences of the original are amalgamated into two" (William Minto).
Coalesce implies a slow merging:
"The resulting slosh of debris coalesced into a slightly larger Earth and the moon in orbit around Earth" (Kenneth Chang).
Fuse emphasizes an enduring union, as that formed by heating metals:
"He diffuses a tone and spirit of unity, that blends, and (as it were) fuses, each into each" (Samuel Taylor Coleridge).
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.