mass

mass 1 W2 / mæs / 名词 #

1 large amount

a) [可数名词] a large amount of a substance which does not have a definite or regular shape :

The food had congealed into a sticky mass.

mass of

a high mass of rock

b) [可数名词,通常单数] a large amount or quantity of something

mass of

a huge mass of data

c) masses of something British English informal a large amount of something, or a lot of people or things :

Masses of books covered every surface in the room.

2 crowd [单数形式] a large crowd

mass of

There was a mass of people around the club entrance.

The road was blocked by a solid mass of protesters.

3 the masses all the ordinary people in society who do not have power or influence :

The trains provided cheap travel for the masses.

4 the mass of people/the population/workers etc most of the people in a group or society 同义词 the majority :

The war is strongly supported by the mass of the population.

5 church ceremony ( also Mass )

a) [可数和不可数名词] the main ceremony in some Christian churches, especially the Roman Catholic Church, which celebrates the last meal that Jesus Christ ate :

What time do you go to mass ?

morning/evening/midnight etc Mass

Will I see you at morning Mass?

say/celebrate Mass (= perform this ceremony as a priest ) → High Mass

b) [可数名词] a piece of music written to be performed at the ceremony of mass :

Mozart’s Mass in C minor

6 science [不可数名词] technical the amount of material in something :

The Sun makes up 99.9% of the mass of our solar system.

→ critical mass

mass 2 W3 adjective [仅用于名词前] #

involving or intended for a very large number of people :
a mass protest weapons of mass destruction the problem of mass unemployment mass marketing/entertainment etc a mass marketing campaign Email has made mass mailings possible at the touch of a button.

mass 3 verb [不及物和及物动词] #

to come together, or to make people or things come together, in a large group SYN gather mass (something) behind/along/in etc something Western reports say that troops have been massing in the region since December. grey clouds massing behind the mountains Both countries have massed troops along the border.