noun (plural means)
1 [C] ~ (of doing sth / of sth) an action, an object or a system by which a result is achieved; a way of achieving or doing sth:
Television is an effective means of communication. * Is there any means of contacting him? * Have you any means of identification? * We needed to get to London but we had no means of transport.
2 [pl.] the money that a person has:
People should pay according to their means. * He doesn't have the means to support a wife and child. * Private school fees are beyond the means of most people (= more than they can afford). * Are the monthly repayments within your means (= can you afford them)? * Try to live within your means (= not spend more money than you have). * a man of means (= a rich man)
IDIOMS
by all means (spoken) used to say that you are very willing for sb to have sth or do sth:
'Do you mind if I have a look?' 'By all means.'
by means of sth (formal) with the help of sth:
The load was lifted by means of a crane.
by no means
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About this entry
This is a English–English dictionary entry.
Sourced from Main Dictionary in Lughet's collection.
This word also appears under other sources in Lughet's collection — see the list below.
This entry for means is sourced from Main Dictionary, one of the dictionaries and corpora merged into Lughet.
Does means appear elsewhere on Lughet?
Yes — means appears under other sources or language pairs in Lughet's collection. See the list below.
What is Lughet?
Lughet is a free trilingual dictionary covering nearly five million entries across Uyghur, Chinese, and English, drawn from more than ten source dictionaries and corpora.
