Shak.
But mirth is marred, and the good cheer is lost.
Dryden.
Ire, envy, and despair Which marred all his borrowed visage.
Milton.
2. To spoil; to ruin. "It makes us, or it mars us." "Striving to mend,
to mar the subject." Shak.
Mar, n. A mark or blemish made by bruising, scratching, or the like; a
disfigurement.
||Ma"ra (?), n. [Skr. mra.] (Hind. Myth.) The principal or ruling evil
||spirit. E. Arnold.
||Ma"ra, n. [Icel. mara nightmare, an ogress. See Nightmare.] (Norse
||Myth.) A female demon who torments people in sleep by crouching on
||their chests or stomachs, or by causing terrifying visions.
||Ma"ra, n. (Zoöl.) The Patagonian cavy (Dolichotis Patagonicus).
Mar`a*bou" (?), n. [F.] 1. (Zoöl.) A large stork of the genus
Leptoptilos (formerly Ciconia), esp. the African species (L.
crumenifer), which furnishes plumes worn as ornaments. The Asiatic
species (L. dubius, or L. argala) is the adjutant. See Adjutant.
[Written also marabu.]
2. One having five eighths negro blood; the offspring of a mulatto and
a griffe. [Louisiana] Bartlett.
Marabout" (?), n. [F., from Pg. marabuto, Ar. morbit. Cf. Maravedi.] A
Mohammedan saint; especially, one who claims to work cures
supernaturally.
Mar"a*can (?), n. [Braz. maracaná.] (Zoöl.) A macaw.
||Ma*rai" (?), n. A sacred inclosure or temple; -- so called by the
||islanders of the Pacific Ocean.
Mar`a*nath"a (?), n. [Aramaic mran ath.] "Our Lord cometh;" -- an
expression used by St. Paul at the conclusion of his first Epistle to
the Corinthians (xvi. 22). This word has been used in anathematizing
persons for great crimes; as much as to say, "May the Lord come quickly
to take vengeance of thy crimes." See Anathema maranatha, under
Anathema.
Ma*ran"ta (?), n. [NL.] (Bot.) A genus of endogenous plants found in
tropical America, and some species also in India. They have tuberous
roots containing a large amount of starch, and from one species
(Maranta arundinacea) arrowroot is obtained. Many kinds are cultivated
for ornament.
||Ma`ra*schi"no (?), n. [It., fr. marasca, amarasca, a sour cherry, L.
||amarus bitter.] A liqueur distilled from fermented cherry juice, and
||flavored with the pit of a variety of cherry which grows in Dalmatia.
Ma*ras"mus (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; , fr. &?;, to quench, as fire;
pass., to die away.] (Med.) A wasting of flesh without fever or
apparent disease; a kind of consumption; atrophy; phthisis.
Pining atrophy, Marasmus, and wide-wasting pestilence.
Milton.
Marasmus senilis [L.], progressive atrophy of the aged.
Ma*raud" (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Marauded; p. pr. & vb. n. Marauding.]
[F. marauder, fr. maraud vagabond, OF. marault; of uncertain origin,
perh. for malault, fr. (assumed) LL. malaldus; fr. L. malus bad, ill +
a suffix of German origin (cf. Herald). Cf. Malice.] To rove in quest
of plunder; to make an excursion for booty; to plunder. "Marauding
hosts." Milman.
Ma*raud", n. An excursion for plundering.
Ma*raud`er (?), n. [From Maraud, v.: cf. F. maraudeur.] A rover in
quest of booty or plunder; a plunderer; one who pillages. De Quincey.
Mar`a*ve"di (?), n. [Sp. maravedí; -- so called from the Morbitn (lit.,
the steadfast), an Arabian dynasty which reigned in Africa and Spain.
Cf. Marabout.] (Numis.) A small copper coin of Spain, equal to three
mils American money, less than a farthing sterling. Also, an ancient
Spanish gold coin.
Mar"ble (mär"b'l), n. [OE. marbel, marbre, F. marbre, L. marmor, fr.
Gr. ma`rmaros, fr. marmai`rein to sparkle, flash. Cf. Marmoreal.] 1. A
massive, compact limestone; a variety of calcite, capable of being
polished and used for architectural and ornamental purposes. The color
varies from white to black, being sometimes yellow, red, and green, and
frequently beautifully veined or clouded. The name is also given to
other rocks of like use and appearance, as serpentine or verd antique
marble, and less properly to polished porphyry, granite, etc.
Breccia marble consists of limestone fragments cemented together. --
Ruin marble, when polished, shows forms resembling ruins, due to
disseminated iron oxide. -- Shell marble contains fossil shells. --
Statuary marble is a pure, white, fine-grained kind, including Parian
(from Paros) and Carrara marble. If coarsely granular it is called
saccharoidal.
2. A thing made of, or resembling, marble, as a work of art, or record,
in marble; or, in the plural, a collection of such works; as, the
Arundel or Arundelian marbles; the Elgin marbles.
3. A little ball of marble, or of some other hard substance, used as a
plaything by children; or, in the plural, a child's game played with
marbles.
Marble is also much used in self-explaining compounds; when used
figuratively in compounds it commonly means, hard, cold, destitute of
compassion or feeling; as, marble- breasted, marble-faced,
marble-hearted.
Mar"ble, a. 1. Made of, or resembling, marble; as, a marble mantel;
marble paper.