marrow
/ˈmæɹəʊ/ noun, proper noun
Forms marrows marra
- noun (uncountable) The substance inside bones which produces blood cells.
- noun A kind of vegetable similar to a large courgette, zucchini or squash; the mature fruit of certain Cucurbita pepo cultivars.
- noun The pith of certain plants.
- noun (figurative) The essence; the best part.
- noun (figurative) The inner meaning or purpose.
- noun (countable, medicine, colloquial) Bone marrow biopsy. “This patient will have a marrow today.”
- noun (uncountable, obsolete) Semen.
- noun (Geordie, informal) A friend, pal, buddy, mate. “Cheers marrow!”
- noun (mining, slang, obsolete) A miner's mate or assistant.
- noun (Scotland or archaic) One of a pair; a match; a companion; an intimate associate.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
crux gist bowels sum brass tacks core essence drift guts gravamen heart heart and soul heartstring heartstrings inwardness kernel meat moral of the story nitty-gritty nub bone marrow marrow squash vegetable marrow substance center centre pith
Etymology
From Middle English mary, marow, marwe, marowȝ, from Old English mearg, from Proto-West Germanic *maʀg, from Proto-Germanic *mazgą, *mazgaz, from Proto-Indo-European *mosgʰos. Compare West Frisian moarch, Dutch merg, German Mark, Swedish märg, Icelandic mergur, and also Russian мозг (mozg, “brain”), Polish mózg (“brain”), Ashkun amōźã, Kamkata-viri muč, muj, Waigali muj, Persian مغز (maġz, “brain”), Sanskrit मज्जन् (majján). Doublet of maghaz.
From Old Norse margr.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The tissue which fills the cavities of most bones; the medulla.
- noun The essence; the best part.
- verb To fill with, or as with, marrow of fat; to glut.
Etymology [OE. marou, mary, maruh, AS. mearg, mearh; akin to OS. marg, D. merg, G. Mark, OHG. marg, marag, Icel. mergr, Sw. merg, Dan. marv, Skr. majjan; cf. Skr. majj to sink, L. mergere. sq. root274 Cf. Merge.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “marrow”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details