Night closed upon the pursuit, and aided the mass of the fugitives
in their escape.
Jowett (Thucyd.).
6. (Physics) The quantity of matter which a body contains, irrespective
of its bulk or volume.
Mass and weight are often used, in a general way, as interchangeable
terms, since the weight of a body is proportional to its mass (under
the same or equal gravitative forces), and the mass is usually
ascertained from the weight. Yet the two ideas, mass and weight, are
quite distinct. Mass is the quantity of matter in a body; weight is the
comparative force with which it tends towards the center of the earth.
A mass of sugar and a mass of lead are assumed to be equal when they
show an equal weight by balancing each other in the scales.
Blue mass. See under Blue. -- Mass center (Geom.), the center of
gravity of a triangle. -- Mass copper, native copper in a large mass.
-- Mass meeting, a large or general assembly of people, usually a
meeting having some relation to politics. -- The masses, the great body
of the people, as contrasted with the higher classes; the populace.
Mass, v. t. To form or collect into a mass; to form into a collective
body; to bring together into masses; to assemble.
But mass them together and they are terrible indeed.
Coleridge.
Mas"sa*cre (?), n. [F., fr. LL. mazacrium; cf. Prov. G. metzgern,
metzgen, to kill cattle, G. metzger a butcher, and LG. matsken to cut,
hew, OHG. meizan to cut, Goth. máitan.] 1. The killing of a
considerable number of human beings under circumstances of atrocity or
cruelty, or contrary to the usages of civilized people; as, the
massacre on St. Bartholomew's Day.