Mash

/mæʃ/ name, noun, verb, slang

name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A mass of mixed ingredients reduced to a soft pulpy state by beating or pressure; a mass of anything in a soft pulpy state.
  • Grammar: mash is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: abrade, alfresco meal, all sorts, assemblage.
  • Useful contrasts: chunk, dry mass, lump.
  • Usage evidence: Peel the bananas and mash them with a fork.

How to use "mash"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "mash" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "mash" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "mash" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "mash" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "mash" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "abrade" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "mash", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A mass of mixed ingredients reduced to a soft pulpy state by beating or pressure; a mass of anything in a soft pulpy state. uncountable
  2. 2
    A mesh. obsolete
  3. 3
    An infatuation, a crush, a fancy. obsolete
  4. 4
    A gun. Multicultural-London-English, countable, slang

    "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"

  5. 5
    Alternative form of maash (“mung bean”). alt-of, alternative
Show 10 more definitions
  1. 6
    Acronym of Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
  2. 7
    mixture of ground animal feeds wordnet
  3. 8
    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. countable, uncountable
  4. 9
    A dandy, a masher. obsolete
  5. 10
    Initialism of municipal, academic, schools and hospitals Canada, abbreviation, alt-of, initialism

    "Don, who is now a member of the Kings Counsel, has been practicing law for over four decades. Focused on municipal law in the MASH sector, his law firm, Lidstone and Company – Barristers and Solicitors has evolved to include 26 lawyers, two articling students and 12 support staff."

  6. 11
    a mixture of mashed malt grains and hot water; used in brewing wordnet
  7. 12
    Mashed potatoes. UK, countable, uncountable
  8. 13
    The object of one’s affections (regardless of sex). obsolete
  9. 14
    A mixture of meal or bran and water fed to animals. countable, uncountable
  10. 15
    A mess; trouble. countable, obsolete, uncountable

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

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

    "We had fun mashing apples in a mill."

  2. 2
    To flirt, to make eyes, to make romantic advances.

    "“What's the yarn about your mashing a Miss Haverley up there? Not serious, I hope?”"

  3. 3
    reduce to small pieces or particles by pounding or abrading wordnet
  4. 4
    In brewing, to convert (for example malt, or malt and meal) into the mash which makes wort, by mixing it with hot water. transitive
  5. 5
    talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions wordnet
Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    To prepare a cup of tea in a teapot; to brew (tea). Northern-England, UK, Yorkshire, transitive

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

  2. 7
    to compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition wordnet
  3. 8
    To press down hard (on). ambitransitive

    "to mash on a bicycle pedal"

  4. 9
    To press. Southern-US, informal, transitive
  5. 10
    To act violently. archaic, intransitive
  6. 11
    To press (a button) rapidly and repeatedly. informal, transitive
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
abradealfresco mealall sortsassemblageassortmentatomize

Antonyms

chunkdry masslumpunmashed potatoes

Example

"Peel the bananas and mash them with a fork."

Common questions

What does "mash" mean?

A mass of mixed ingredients reduced to a soft pulpy state by beating or pressure; a mass of anything in a soft pulpy state.

What is a synonym for "mash"?

Common synonyms include: abrade, alfresco meal, all sorts, assemblage, assortment, atomize.

How do you use "mash" in a sentence?

Peel the bananas and mash them with a fork.

How do you pronounce "mash"?

Pronounced /mæʃ/.

Etymology

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.

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”).

Etymology 3

See 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 [Albert Marshall] Palmer of New York, and I made a note of it years before the term had become at all popular.

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.

Etymology 6

Probably an alteration of Marsh, a topological surname from Old English mersċ ("bog, swamp, marsh"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *móri ("sea; standing water").

More for "mash"

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