mince Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun food chopped into small bits
    • a mince of mushrooms
  2. verb make less severe or harsh
    moderate; soften.
    • He moderated his tone when the students burst out in tears
  3. verb walk daintily
    • She minced down the street
  4. verb cut into small pieces
    • mince the garlic

WordNet

Mince transitive verb
Etymology
AS. minsian to grow less, dwindle, fr. min small; akin to G. minder less, Goth. minniza less, mins less, adv., L. minor, adj. (cf. Minor); or more likely fr. F. mincer to mince, prob. from (assumed) LL. minutiare. . See Minish.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Minced ; present participle & verbal noun Minging
Definitions
  1. To cut into very small pieces; to chop fine; to hash; as, to mince meat. Bacon.
  2. To suppress or weaken the force of; to extenuate; to palliate; to tell by degrees, instead of directly and frankly; to clip, as words or expressions; to utter half and keep back half of.
    I know no ways to mince it in love, but directly to say -- "I love you." Shak.
    Siren, now mince the sin, And mollify damnation with a phrase. Dryden.
    If, to mince his meaning, I had either omitted some part of what he said, or taken from the strength of his expression, I certainly had wronged him. Dryden.
  3. To affect; to make a parade of. R. Shak.
Mince intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To walk with short steps; to walk in a prim, affected manner.
    The daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes,... mincing as they go. Is. iii. 16.
    I 'll... turn two mincing steps Into a manly stride. Shak.
  2. To act or talk with affected nicety; to affect delicacy in manner.
Mince noun
Definitions
  1. A short, precise step; an affected manner.

Webster 1913