n. [ G. berg mountain + mehl meal. ] (Min.) An earthy substance, resembling fine flour. It is composed of the shells of infusoria, and in Lapland and Sweden is sometimes eaten, mixed with flour or ground birch bark, in times of scarcity. This name is also given to a white powdery variety of calcite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. ground bones, used as a fertilizer or as a component in animal feed; -- it is high in phosphate content. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

. A meal made from hulled cotton seeds after the oil has been expressed. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

{ } adv. [ AS. drop-m&aemacr_;lum; dropa drop + m&aemacr_;l portion. Cf. Piecemeal. ] By drops or small portions. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Distilling dropmeal, a little at once. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Meal a part, and cf. Piecemeal. ] A piece an inch long. [ 1913 Webster ]

By inchmeal, by small degrees; by inches. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Little by little; gradually. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ See Limb, and Piecemeal. ] Piecemeal. [ Obs. ] “To tear her limbmeal.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. mele, AS. m&aemacr_;l part, portion, portion of time; akin to E. meal a repast. Cf. Piecemeal. ] A part; a fragment; a portion. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. mel; akin to E. meal a part, and to D. maal time, meal, G. mal time, mahl meal, Icel. māl measure, time, meal, Goth. mēl time, and to E. measure. See Measure. ] The portion of food taken at a particular time for the satisfaction of appetite; the quantity usually taken at one time with the purpose of satisfying hunger; a repast; the act or time of eating a meal; as, the traveler has not eaten a good meal for a week; there was silence during the meal. [ 1913 Webster ]

What strange fish
Hath made his meal on thee? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. mele, AS. melu, melo; akin to D. meel, G. mehl, OHG. melo, Icel. mjöl, SW. mjöl, Dan. meel, also to D. malen to grind, G. mahlen, OHG., OS., & Goth. malan, Icel. mala, W. malu, L. molere, Gr. my`lh mill, and E. mill. √108. Cf. Mill, Mold soil, Mole an animal, Immolate, Molar. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Grain (esp. maize, rye, or oats) that is coarsely ground and unbolted; also, a kind of flour made from beans, pease, etc.; sometimes, any flour, esp. if coarse. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any substance that is coarsely pulverized like meal, but not granulated. [ 1913 Webster ]

Meal beetle (Zool.), the adult of the meal worm. See Meal worm, below. --
Meal moth (Zool.), a lepidopterous insect (Asopia farinalis), the larvae of which feed upon meal, flour, etc. --
Meal worm (Zool.), the larva of a beetle (Tenebrio molitor) which infests granaries, bakehouses, etc., and is very injurious to flour and meal. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To sprinkle with, or as with, meal. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To pulverize; as, mealed powder. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ From Mealy. ] (Bot.) Maize or Indian corn; -- the common name in South Africa. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being mealy. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. See Mealy-mouthed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A program that delivers hot meals to persons, such as the elderly or disabled, who are confined to their homes and unable to cook for themselves; also, the meals thus delivered. Such programs are usually conducted by governmental or charitable organizations. [ PJC ]

n. The usual time of eating a meal. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Mealier superl. Mealiest. ] 1. Having the qualities of meal; resembling meal; soft, dry, and friable; easily reduced to a condition resembling meal; as, a mealy potato. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Overspread with something that resembles meal; as, the mealy wings of an insect. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.), Any of several homopteran scale insects (as, Coccus adonidum, and related species of the families Pseudococcidae and Eriococcidae), that cover themselves with a white powderlike or cottony wax secretion. They are common plant-eating pests in hothouses and are also destructive of fruit trees. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Using soft words; not straightforward; plausible; affectedly or timidly delicate of speech; speaking deviously; unwilling to tell the truth in plain language. Opposite of frank or blunt. “Mealy-mouthed philanthropies.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

She was a fool to be mealy-mouthed where nature speaks so plain. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Meal"y-mouth`ness n. [1913 Webster]

n. 1. Meal made of oats. Gay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Panicum; panic grass. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ OE. pecemele; pece a piece + AS. m&unr_;lum, dat. pl. of m&unr_;l part. See Meal a portion. ] 1. In pieces; in parts or fragments. “On which it piecemeal brake.” Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

The beasts will tear thee piecemeal. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Piece by piece; by little and little in succession. [ 1913 Webster ]

Piecemeal they win, this acre first, than that. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Made up of parts or pieces; single; separate. “These piecemeal guilts.” Gov. of Tongue. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A fragment; a scrap. R. Vaughan. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Divided into pieces. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Same as Ramal. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ Troop + -meal as in piecemeal. ] By troops; in crowds. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

So, troopmeal, Troy pursued a while, laying on with swords and darts. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. under under + m&unr_;l part or portion; cf. AS. underm&unr_;l midday. See Under, Meal a part, and cf. Undern. ] 1. The inferior, or after, part of the day; the afternoon. [ Obs. or Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

In undermeals and in mornings. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, something occurring or done in the afternoon; esp., an afternoon meal; supper; also, an afternoon nap; a siesta. [ Obs. or Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Another great supper, or undermeal, was made ready for them, coming home from ditching and plowing. Withals (1608). [ 1913 Webster ]

I think I am furnished with Cattern [ Catharine ] pears for one undermeal. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

In a narrower limit than the forty years' undermeal of the seven sleepers. Nash. [ 1913 Webster ]