A man is an adult male human being. The plural of man is men.
Man is sometimes used to refer to human beings in general. For example, instead of saying 'Human beings are destroying the environment', you can say 'Man is destroying the environment'. When man has this meaning, don't use 'the' in front of it.
Men is sometimes used to refer to all human beings, considered as individuals.
Mankind is used to refer to all human beings, considered as a group.
Some people do not like the use of man, men, and mankind to refer to human beings of both sexes, because they think it suggests that men are more important than women. You can use people instead.
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| Noun | 1. | man - an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman); "there were two women and six men on the bus"adult male body, man's body - the body of an adult man male person, male - a person who belongs to the sex that cannot have babies Black man - a man who is Black white man - a man who is White bachelor, unmarried man - a man who has never been married bey - (formerly) a title of respect for a man in Turkey or Egypt; "he introduced me to Ahmet Bey" boy - a friendly informal reference to a grown man; "he likes to play golf with the boys" beau, boyfriend, swain, young man, fellow - a man who is the lover of a girl or young woman; "if I'd known he was her boyfriend I wouldn't have asked" ex-boyfriend - a man who is no longer a woman's boyfriend bruiser, strapper, bull, Samson - a large and strong and heavyset man; "he was a bull of a man"; "a thick-skinned bruiser ready to give as good as he got" dandy, fashion plate, fop, gallant, sheik, dude, beau, clotheshorse, swell - a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance ejaculator - a man who ejaculates semen Esq, Esquire - a title of respect for a member of the English gentry ranking just below a knight; placed after the name castrate, eunuch - a man who has been castrated and is incapable of reproduction; "eunuchs guarded the harem" father figure, father surrogate - a man who takes over all the functions of the real father father-figure - a man (often a powerful or influential man) who arouses emotions usually felt for your real father and with whom you identify psychologically buster, dude, fellow - an informal form of address for a man; "Say, fellow, what are you doing?"; "Hey buster, what's up?" galoot - a disreputable or clumsy man geezer - a man who is (usually) old and/or eccentric gentleman - a man of refinement divorced man, grass widower - a man who is divorced from (or separated from) his wife guy, hombre, bozo, cat - an informal term for a youth or man; "a nice guy"; "the guy's only doing it for some doll" Herr - a German man; used before the name as a title equivalent to Mr in English Hooray Henry - a lively and ineffectual upper-class young man housefather - a man in charge of children in an institution hunk - a well-built sexually attractive man ex, ex-husband - a man who was formerly a certain woman's husband inamorato - a man with whom you are in love or have an intimate relationship ironside - a man of great strength or bravery adonis - any handsome young man middle-aged man - a man who is roughly between 45 and 65 years old Monsieur - used as a French courtesy title; equivalent to English `Mr' paterfamilias, patriarch - the male head of family or tribe Peter Pan - a boyish or immature man; after the boy in Barrie's play who never grows up ponce - a man who is effeminate in his manner and fussy in the way he dresses posseman - an able-bodied man serving as a member of a posse Senhor - a Portuguese title of respect; equivalent to English `Mr' shaver - an adult male who shaves signore - an Italian title of respect for a man; equivalent to the English `sir'; used separately (not prefixed to his name) sir - term of address for a man stiff - an ordinary man; "a lucky stiff"; "a working stiff" Tarzan - (sometimes used ironically) a man of great strength and agility (after the hero of a series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs) philanderer, womaniser, womanizer - a man who likes many women and has short sexual relationships with them adult female, woman - an adult female person (as opposed to a man); "the woman kept house while the man hunted" |
| 2. | man - someone who serves in the armed forces; a member of a military force; "two men stood sentry duty"military force, military group, military unit, force - a unit that is part of some military service; "he sent Caesar a force of six thousand men" armed forces, armed services, military, military machine, war machine - the military forces of a nation; "their military is the largest in the region"; "the military machine is the same one we faced in 1991 but now it is weaker" air force officer, commander - an officer in the airforce enlisted person - a serviceman who ranks below a commissioned officer military officer, officer - any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command; "an officer is responsible for the lives of his men" noncombatant - a member of the armed forces who does not participate in combat (e.g. a chaplain or surgeon) occupier - a member of a military force who is residing in a conquered foreign country striper - a serviceman who wears stripes on the uniform to indicate rank or years of service; "he's a four-striper" veteran, veteran soldier - a serviceman who has seen considerable active service; "the veterans laughed at the new recruits" | |
| 3. | man - the generic use of the word to refer to any human being; "it was every man for himself" | |
| 4. | lumbus, loin - either side of the backbone between the hipbone and the ribs in humans as well as quadrupeds hominid - a primate of the family Hominidae genus Homo - type genus of the family Hominidae human beings, human race, humankind, humans, mankind, humanity, world, man - all of the living human inhabitants of the earth; "all the world loves a lover"; "she always used `humankind' because `mankind' seemed to slight the women" Homo erectus - extinct species of primitive hominid with upright stature but small brain; "Homo erectus was formerly called Pithecanthropus erectus" Homo soloensis - extinct primitive hominid of late Pleistocene; Java; formerly Javanthropus Homo habilis - extinct species of upright East African hominid having some advanced humanlike characteristics Homo sapiens - the only surviving hominid; species to which modern man belongs; bipedal primate having language and ability to make and use complex tools; brain volume at least 1400 cc Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, Neandertal, Neandertal man, Neanderthal, Neanderthal man - extinct robust human of Middle Paleolithic in Europe and western Asia body, organic structure, physical structure - the entire structure of an organism (an animal, plant, or human being); "he felt as if his whole body were on fire" chassis, bod, human body, material body, physical body, physique, build, anatomy, figure, flesh, frame, shape, soma, form - alternative names for the body of a human being; "Leonardo studied the human body"; "he has a strong physique"; "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" body hair - short hair growing over a person's body head of hair, mane - growth of hair covering the scalp of a human being human head - the head of a human being side - either the left or right half of a body; "he had a pain in his side" foot, human foot, pes - the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint; "his bare feet projected from his trousers"; "armored from head to foot" arm - a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb hand, manus, mitt, paw - the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb; "he had the hands of a surgeon"; "he extended his mitt" face, human face - the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear; "he washed his face"; "I wish I had seen the look on his face when he got the news" nutrition - the scientific study of food and drink (especially in humans) Homo rhodesiensis, Rhodesian man - a primitive hominid resembling Neanderthal man but living in Africa schistosome dermatitis, swimmer's itch - a sensitization reaction to repeated invasion of the skin by cercariae of schistosomes hyperdactyly, polydactyly - birth defect characterized by the presence of more than the normal number of fingers or toes syndactylism, syndactyly - birth defect in which there is partial or total webbing connecting two or more fingers or toes | |
| 5. | man - a male subordinate; "the chief stationed two men outside the building"; "he awaited word from his man in Havana" subordinate, subsidiary, underling, foot soldier - an assistant subject to the authority or control of another | |
| 6. | man - an adult male person who has a manly character (virile and courageous competent); "the army will make a man of you"male person, male - a person who belongs to the sex that cannot have babies | |
| 7. | man - a manservant who acts as a personal attendant to his employer; "Jeeves was Bertie Wooster's man"body servant - a valet or personal maid manservant - a man servant | |
| 8. | man - a male person who plays a significant role (husband or lover or boyfriend) in the life of a particular woman; "she takes good care of her man" colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech lover - a significant other to whom you are not related by marriage male person, male - a person who belongs to the sex that cannot have babies woman - a female person who plays a significant role (wife or mistress or girlfriend) in the life of a particular man; "he was faithful to his woman" | |
| 9. | Man - one of the British Isles in the Irish SeaBritish Isles - Great Britain and Ireland and adjacent islands in the north Atlantic | |
| 10. | man - game equipment consisting of an object used in playing certain board games; "he taught me to set up the men on the chess board"; "he sacrificed a piece to get a strategic advantage"black - (board games) the darker pieces chess piece, chessman - any of 16 white and 16 black pieces used in playing the game of chess game equipment - equipment or apparatus used in playing a game tile - game equipment consisting of a flat thin piece marked with characters and used in board games like Mah-Jong, Scrabble, etc. white - (board games) the lighter pieces | |
| 11. | man - all of the living human inhabitants of the earth; "all the world loves a lover"; "she always used `humankind' because `mankind' seemed to slight the women"human, human being, man - any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect carriage people - (plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively; "old people"; "there were at least 200 people in the audience" | |
| Verb | 1. | man - take charge of a certain job; occupy a certain work place; "Mr. Smith manned the reception desk in the morning" man - provide with workers; "We cannot man all the desks"; "Students were manning the booths" |
| 2. | man - provide with workers; "We cannot man all the desks"; "Students were manning the booths" staff - provide with staff; "This position is not always staffed" crew - serve as a crew member on man - take charge of a certain job; occupy a certain work place; "Mr. Smith manned the reception desk in the morning" |