mince
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Finely chopped meat.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
minsIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmɪns
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
uncountable
Finely chopped meat; minced meat.
uncountable
Finely chopped mixed fruit used in Christmas pies; mincemeat.
countable
An affected (often dainty or short and precise) gait.
countable
An affected manner, especially of speaking; an affectation.
ukslanguncountable
Something worthless; rubbish.
verb
transitivecooking
To cut into very small pieces; to chop finely.
Make less severe or harsh
transitive
To make less; to make small.
transitive
To lessen; to diminish; to diminish in speaking; to speak of lightly or slightingly; to minimise.
Walk daintily
intransitive
To walk with short steps; to walk in a prim, affected manner.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Rare
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Pie containing mincemeat.
A kitchen utensil that cuts or chops food (especially meat) into small pieces.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.