Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A microphone.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An abbreviation of Micah, a book of the Old Testament.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Microphone.
  • verb transitive and intransitive, music To put one or microphones on or in; to use or place a microphone.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

1961 mic. Abbreviation and alteration of microphone.

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Examples

  • The man with the mic is an Azeri who is leaving for a year in the States via scholarship funds.

    The Fire Land: 4th of July in Ming, part 1 alexis 2009

  • The man with the mic is an Azeri who is leaving for a year in the States via scholarship funds.

    Archive 2009-07-01 alexis 2009

  • His approach to the mic is greeted with screams – "What a superstar", I think, "come on, Monty", as he tells us about his many years of experience earned playing in eight Ryder Cups.

    Ryder Cup 2010: Welcome to a weird world of facelifts and blind faith Anna Kessel at Celtic Manor 2010

  • But if your gadget giftee listens to their jams on a smartphone, headphones with a built-in microphone are a no-brainer, and the Klipsch Image S2m headset with mic is the way to go.

    Gadget Grab: Phone-friendly headphones | EW.com 2009

  • April 17th, 2010 1: 14 pm ET the fact that the gop lets an idiot like kant-error anywhere near an open mic is proof that they shouldn't be taken seriously as a party ...

    Cantor hits Dems on taxes, spending 2010

  • He offers this advice for other aspiring comics with disabilities: If you can't stand up for yourself, sit up for yourself, and if you can't do that, make sure the mic is wired to your bed.

    Josh Blue's comedy knocks out stereotypes BA Haller 2008

  • The built-in mic records up to 125 hours of audio, which you can later transfer to a PC for transcription.

    USB memory stick + 500 songs + voice recorder = $70 | Sync Blog 2007

  • It was recorded onto a miniharddrive recorder with built in mic's (gotta get me one of those things) and was edited a bit by one of our fabulous baritones - but that is it ... and it sounds just as good as a professionally engineered recording (in mp3 format).

    Archive 2007-04-01 Celeste Winant 2007

  • It was recorded onto a miniharddrive recorder with built in mic's (gotta get me one of those things) and was edited a bit by one of our fabulous baritones - but that is it ... and it sounds just as good as a professionally engineered recording (in mp3 format).

    Choralis - WOW! Celeste Winant 2007

  • I really thought I'd get to ask my question, but looks like the mic is moving away from my area of the hall.

    Archive 2007-07-01 2007

Comments

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  • "Mike" dates to the 1920s, according to the OED, while "mic" dates to the 1960s. Most dictionaries consider "mic" a variant. Yet Wordnik's stats show a recent explosion in its use. Why? "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" both spell it "mic."

    August 21, 2009