. (Surveying) 1. Any permanent mark to which other levels may be referred. such as: (a) A horizontal mark at the water's edge with reference to which the height of tides and floods may be measured. (b) a surveyer's mark on a permanent object of predetermined position and elevation used as a reference point. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. + WordNet 1.5 ]

2. something serving as a standard by which related items may be judged; as, his painting sets the benchmark of quality. [ PJC + WordNet 1.5 ]

3. a test or series of tests designed to compare the qualities or performance of different devices of the same type. Certain sets of computer programs are much used as benchmarks for comparing the performance of different computers, especially by comparing the time it takes to complete a test. [ PJC ]

n. Some peculiar mark or blemish on the body at birth. [ 1913 Webster ]

Most part of this noble lineage carried upon their body for a natural birthmark, . . . a snake. Sir T. North. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. the illicit buying and selling of goods, in violation of price controls, rationing, tax laws, prohibition of sale, etc. [ PJC ]

2. a place where such illegal commerce is conducted, or the entire system of such illicit commerce considered as a whole; as, the black market accounts for twenty percent of the Ukrainian economy. [ PJC ]

adj. distributed or sold illicitly.
Syn. -- bootleg, contraband, smuggled. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. Something placed in a book to guide in finding a particular page or passage; also, a label in a book to designate the owner; a bookplate. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (a) (Mach.) One of the fine undulations or ripples which are formed on the surface of work by a cutting tool which chatters. (b) (Geol.) A short crack on a rock surface planed smooth by a glacier. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ OF. comarque, or LL. commarca, commarcha; com- + marcha, boundary. See March a confine. ] The frontier of a country; confines. [ Obs. ] Shelton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A mark or token added to those already existing, in order to afford security or proof; as, an additional or special mark put upon a package of goods belonging to several persons, that it may not be opened except in the presence of all; a mark added to that of an artificer of gold or silver work by the Goldsmiths' Company of London, to attest the standard quality of the gold or silver; a mark added to an ancient coin or medal, to show either its change of value or that it was taken from an enemy. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Far.) An artificial cavity made in the teeth of horses that have outgrown their natural mark, to disguise their age. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To apply a countermark to; as, to countermark silverware; to countermark a horse's teeth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Demarcation. [ 1913 Webster ]

See under Satin. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. designed for low-income consumers. Opposite of upmarket.
Syn. -- downmarket. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. A mark on the ear of sheep, oxen, dogs, etc., as by cropping or slitting. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A mark for identification; a distinguishing mark. [ 1913 Webster ]

Money is said to have no earmark. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Flying, he [ a slave ] should be described by the rounding of his head, and his earmark. Robynson (More's Utopia). [ 1913 Webster ]

A set of intellectual ideas . . . have earmarks upon them, no tokens of a particular proprietor. Burrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Earmarked p. pr. & vb. n. Earmarking. ] 1. To mark, as sheep, by cropping or slitting the ear. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To designate or reserve for a specific purpose; as, the alumni fund was earmarked for dormitory construction. [ PJC ]

n. A footprint; a track or vestige. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The official stamp of the Goldsmiths' Company and other assay offices, in the United Kingdom, on gold and silver articles, attesting their purity. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, [ figuratively ]: A distinguishing characteristic or characteristics; as, a word or phrase lacks the hall-mark of the best writers. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. (Mil.) an insignia worn on the uniform to indicate years of service.
Syn. -- service stripe, hash mark. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a visible impression on a surface made by the hoof of an animal. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ AS. landmearc. See Land, and Mark a sign. ] 1. A mark to designate the boundary of land; any mark or fixed object (as a marked tree, a stone, a ditch, or a heap of stones) by which the limits of a farm, a town, or other portion of territory may be known and preserved. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any conspicuous object on land that serves as a guide; some prominent object, as a hill or steeple. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A structure that has special significance, such as a building with historical associations; especially, a building that is protected from destruction or alteration by special laws intended to preserve structures of historical significance; as, a landmark preservation law. [ PJC ]

4. An event or accomplishment of great significance; as, Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark of the civil rights movement. Also used attributively, as a landmark court decision. [ PJC ]

Landmarks of history, important events by which eras or conditions are determined. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Lug an ear. ] A mark cut into the ear of an animal to identify it; an earmark. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A license of reprisals. See Marque. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See 2d Marc. ] 1. An old weight and coin. See Marc. “Lend me a mark.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The unit of monetary account of the German Empire, equal to 23.8 cents of United States money (1913); the equivalent of one hundred pfennigs. Also, a silver coin of this value. The unit was retained by subsequent German states up to the time of the Federal Republic of Germany. In 1995, the value was approximately 65 cents American. In 1999 it began to be superseded by the Euro as a unit of currency in Germany and throughout much of the European union. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. [ OE. marke, merke, AS. mearc; akin to D. merk, MHG. marc, G. marke, Icel. mark, Dan. mærke; cf. Lith. margas party-colored. √106, 273. Cf. Remark. ] 1. A visible sign or impression made or left upon anything; esp., a line, point, stamp, figure, or the like, drawn or impressed, so as to attract the attention and convey some information or intimation; a token; a trace. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. Gen. iv. 15. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Specifically: (a) A character or device put on an article of merchandise by the maker to show by whom it was made; a trade-mark. (b) A character (usually a cross) made as a substitute for a signature by one who can not write. [ 1913 Webster ]

The mark of the artisan is found upon the most ancient fabrics that have come to light. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A fixed object serving for guidance, as of a ship, a traveler, a surveyor, etc.; as, a seamark, a landmark. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A trace, dot, line, imprint, or discoloration, although not regarded as a token or sign; a scratch, scar, stain, etc.; as, this pencil makes a fine mark. [ 1913 Webster ]

I have some marks of yours upon my pate. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. An evidence of presence, agency, or influence; a significative token; a symptom; a trace; specifically, a permanent impression of one's activity or character. [ 1913 Webster ]

The confusion of tongues was a mark of separation. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. That toward which a missile is directed; a thing aimed at; what one seeks to hit or reach. [ 1913 Webster ]

France was a fairer mark to shoot at than Ireland. Davies. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whate'er the motive, pleasure is the mark. Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Attention, regard, or respect. [ 1913 Webster ]

As much in mock as mark. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Limit or standard of action or fact; as, to be within the mark; to come up to the mark. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. Badge or sign of honor, rank, or official station. [ 1913 Webster ]

In the official marks invested, you
Anon do meet the Senate. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. Preeminence; high position; as, patricians of mark; a fellow of no mark. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. (Logic) A characteristic or essential attribute; a differential. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. A number or other character used in registering; as, examination marks; a mark for tardiness. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. Image; likeness; hence, those formed in one's image; children; descendants. [ Obs. ] “All the mark of Adam.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

14. (Naut.) One of the bits of leather or colored bunting which are placed upon a sounding line at intervals of from two to five fathoms. The unmarked fathoms are called “deeps.” [ 1913 Webster ]

A man of mark, a conspicuous or eminent man. --
To make one's mark. (a) To sign, as a letter or other writing, by making a cross or other mark. (b) To make a distinct or lasting impression on the public mind, or on affairs; to gain distinction. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Impress; impression; stamp; print; trace; vestige; track; characteristic; evidence; proof; token; badge; indication; symptom. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Marked p. pr. & vb. n. Marking. ] [ OE. marken, merken, AS. mearcian, from mearc. See Mark the sign. ] 1. To put a mark upon; to affix a significant mark to; to make recognizable by a mark; as, to mark a box or bale of merchandise; to mark clothing. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be a mark upon; to designate; to indicate; -- used literally and figuratively; as, this monument marks the spot where Wolfe died; his courage and energy marked him for a leader. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To leave a trace, scratch, scar, or other mark, upon, or any evidence of action; as, a pencil marks paper; his hobnails marked the floor. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To keep account of; to enumerate and register; as, to mark the points in a game of billiards or cards. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To notice or observe; to give attention to; to take note of; to remark; to heed; to regard; as, mark my words. “Mark the perfect man.” Ps. xxxvii. 37. [ 1913 Webster ]

To mark out. (a) To designate, as by a mark; to select; as, the ringleaders were marked out for punishment. (b) To obliterate or cancel with a mark; as, to mark out an item in an account. --
To mark time (Mil.), to keep the time of a marching step by moving the legs alternately without advancing. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To note; remark; notice; observe; regard; heed; show; evince; indicate; point out; betoken; denote; characterize; stamp; imprint; impress; brand. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To take particular notice; to observe critically; to note; to remark. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief. 1 Kings xx. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Remarkable. [ Obs. ] Sandys. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Designated or distinguished by, or as by, a mark; hence; noticeable; conspicuous; as, a marked card; a marked coin; a marked instance. -- Mark"ed*ly adv. J. S. Mill. [1913 Webster]

A marked man, a man who is noted by a community, or by a part of it, as, for excellence or depravity; -- usually with an unfavorable suggestion. [1913 Webster]

n. See Marquee. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who or that which marks. Specifically: (a) One who keeps account of a game played, as of billiards. (b) A counter used in card playing and other games. (c) (Mil.) The soldier who forms the pilot of a wheeling column, or marks the direction of an alignment. (d) An attachment to a sewing machine for marking a line on the fabric by creasing it. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To expose for sale in a market; to traffic in; to sell in a market, and in an extended sense, to sell in any manner; as, most of the farmes have marketed their crops. [ 1913 Webster ]

Industrious merchants meet, and market there
The world's collected wealth. Southey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Akin to D. markt, OHG. markāt, merkāt, G. markt; all fr.L. mercatus trade, market place, fr. mercari, p. p. mercatus, to trade, traffic, merx, mercis, ware, merchandise, prob. akin to merere to deserve, gain, acquire: cf. F. marché. See Merit, and cf. Merchant, Mart. ] 1. A meeting together of people, at a stated time and place, for the purpose of buying and selling (as cattle, provisions, wares, etc.) by private purchase and sale, and not by auction; as, a market is held in the town every week; a farmers' market. [ 1913 Webster ]

He is wit's peddler; and retails his wares
At wakes, and wassails, meetings, markets, fairs. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Three women and a goose make a market. Old Saying. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A public place (as an open space in a town) or a large building, where a market is held; a market place or market house; esp., a place where provisions are sold. [ 1913 Webster ]

There is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool. John v. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An opportunity for selling or buying anything; demand, as shown by price offered or obtainable; as, to find a market for one's wares; there is no market for woolen cloths in that region; India is a market for English goods; there are none for sale on the market; the best price on the market. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

There is a third thing to be considered: how a market can be created for produce, or how production can be limited to the capacities of the market. J. S. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Exchange, or purchase and sale; traffic; as, a dull market; a slow market. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The price for which a thing is sold in a market; market price. Hence: Value; worth. [ 1913 Webster ]

What is a man
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Eng. Law) The privelege granted to a town of having a public market. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A specified group of potential buyers, or a region in which goods may be sold; a town, region, or country, where the demand exists; as, the under-30 market; the New Jersey market. [ PJC ]

☞ Market is often used adjectively, or in forming compounds of obvious meaning; as, market basket, market day, market folk, market house, marketman, market place, market price, market rate, market wagon, market woman, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

Market beater, a swaggering bully; a noisy braggart. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. --
Market bell, a bell rung to give notice that buying and selling in a market may begin. [ Eng. ] Shak. --
Market cross, a cross set up where a market is held. Shak. --
Market garden, a garden in which vegetables are raised for market. --
Market gardening, the raising of vegetables for market. --
Market place, an open square or place in a town where markets or public sales are held. --
Market town, a town that has the privilege of a stated public market. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Marketed; p. pr. & vb. n. Marketing. ] To deal in a market; to buy or sell; to make bargains for provisions or goods. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Fit to be offered for sale in a market; such as may be justly and lawfully sold; as, dacayed provisions are not marketable. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Current in market; as, marketable value. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Wanted by purchasers; salable; as, furs are not marketable in that country. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Quality of being marketable. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who attends a market to buy or sell; one who carries goods to market. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of selling or of purchasing in, or as in, a market. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Articles in, or from, a market; supplies. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The activities required by a producer to sell his products, including advertising, storing, taking orders, and distribution to vendors or individuals. [ PJC ]

n. 1. an area in a town where a public market is set up; a market place; a market{ 2 }.
Syn. -- mart. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. The commercial activity whereby good and services are exchanged; as, without competition there would be no market.
Syn. -- market. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. The mechanism by which one finds a person to whom to sell or from whom to buy goods; the opportunity to buy and sell; a market{ 3 }; as, to put one's goods on the market. [ PJC ]

n. [ Market + stead a place. ] A market place. [ Obs. ] Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ n. [ Per. mār-khōr snake eater. ] (Zool.) A large wild goat (Capra falconeri syn. Capra megaceros), having huge flattened spiral horns. It inhabits the mountains of Northern India and Cashmere. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of one who, or that which, marks; the mark or marks made; arrangement or disposition of marks or coloring; as, the marking of a bird's plumage. [ 1913 Webster ]

Marking ink, indelible ink, because used in marking linen. --
Marking nut (Bot.), the nut of the Semecarpus Anacardium, an East Indian tree. The shell of the nut yields a blackish resinous juice used for marking cotton cloth, and an oil prepared from it is used for rheumatism. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A marquis. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A marchioness. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A marksman. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ after A. A. Markov, Russian mathematician, b. 1856, d. 1922. ] (Statistics) A random process (Markov process) in which the probabilities of discrete states in a series depend only on the properties of the immediately preceding state or the next preceeding state, independent of the path by which the preceding state was reached. It differs from the more general Markov process in that the states of a Markov chain are discrete rather than continuous. Certain physical processes, such as diffusion of a molecule in a fluid, are modelled as a Markov chain. See also random walk. [ Also spelled Markoff chain. ] [ PJC ]

n. [ after A. A. Markov, Russian mathematician, b. 1856, d. 1922. ] (Statistics) a random process in which the probabilities of states in a series depend only on the properties of the immediately preceding state or the next preceeding state, independent of the path by which the preceding state was reached. It is distinguished from a Markov chain in that the states of a Markov process may be continuous as well as discrete. [ Also spelled Markoff process. ] [ PJC ]

n.; pl. Marksmen [ Earlier markman; mark + man. ] 1. One skillful to hit a mark with a missile; one who shoots well. especially with a pistol or rifle. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

2. (Law) One who makes his mark, instead of writing his name, in signing documents. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Skill of a marksman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Commerce) The amount added to the cost to determine the asking price. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. (printing) Instructions for the typesetter that are written on the copy (e.g. underlining words that are to be set in italics). [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. (Legislation) Changes in proposed legislation drafted in conference, as contrasted with changes resulting from the amendment process. [ PJC ]

n. A climbing plant (Toxicodendron radicans) common in eastern and central U. S. with ternate leaves and greenish flowers followed by white berries. It yields an irritating oil that causes a rash on contact; commonly called poison ivy.
Syn. -- poison ivy, poison mercury, poison oak, Toxicodendron radicans, Rhus radicans. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. To mark wrongly. [ 1913 Webster ]