Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A form of ancient Greek and Roman theatrical entertainment in which familiar characters and situations were farcically portrayed on stage, often with coarse dialogue and ludicrous actions.
- noun A performance of or dialogue for such an entertainment.
- noun A performer in a mime.
- noun A modern performer who specializes in comic mimicry.
- noun The art of portraying characters and acting out situations or a narrative by gestures and body movement without the use of words; pantomime.
- noun A performance of pantomime.
- noun An actor or actress skilled in pantomime.
- intransitive verb To ridicule by imitation; mimic.
- intransitive verb To act out with gestures and body movement.
- intransitive verb To act as a mimic.
- intransitive verb To portray characters and situations by gesture and body movement.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An imitator; one skilled in mimicry; a mimic; specifically, a mimic actor; a performer in the ancient farces or burlesques called
mimes . - noun A dramatic entertainment among the ancient Greeks of Sicily and southern Italy and the Romans, consisting generally of farcical mimicry of real events and persons.
- To mimic, or play the buffoon; act in a mime.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A kind of drama in which real persons and events were generally represented in a ridiculous manner; an ancient Greek or Roman form of farce.
- noun An actor in such representations.
- noun The art of representing actions, events, situations, or stories solely by gestures and body movements, without speaking; pantomime{3}.
- noun An actor who performs or specializes in mime{3}; an actor who communicates entirely by gesture and facial expression; a pantomime{2}; a pantomimist; a mimer.
- noun A mimic.
- intransitive verb obsolete To mimic.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A form of
acting withoutwords ;pantomime - noun A pantomime
actor - noun A
classical theatrical entertainment in the form offarce - noun A
performer of such a farce - noun A person who
mimics others in acomical manner - verb To
mimic . - verb To act without words.
- verb To represent an action or object through gesture, without the use sound.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb act out without words but with gestures and bodily movements only
- noun a performance using gestures and body movements without words
- verb imitate (a person or manner), especially for satirical effect
- noun an actor who communicates entirely by gesture and facial expression
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Hoodathunk (sponsored by the Church of Holy Beer) says: actually, I meant to say ‘A mime is a terrible thing to face’.
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Hoodathunk (sponsored by the Church of Holy Beer) says: actually, I meant to say ‘A mime is a terrible thing to face’.
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I support any mime related violence so long as the mime is being injured.
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For a while, Crazy Eddie sponsored the movies and one year, the announcer did a commercial in mime, wearing a Godzilla mask and claws.
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In addition to his acting career, Jean is a professional choreographer and dancer, with special interests in mime, movement, comedia del arte, and ballet.
Performance Program, Boston University, Obi, Romantic Circles Praxis Series
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I raised the subject of air-cricket – cricket you play in mime form, often using a bat-like object, and perhaps making a "clonk" noise as you dispatch an imaginary ball – on the Guardian's over-by-over commentary recently and was swamped with stories: the man who performed a lofted drive with his rolled degree certificate at his graduation and sent it sailing into the audience; the Russian wedding almost ruined by a display of aggressive umbrella air-batsmanship; the hospital-ward practice of playing air-cricket with a drip stand.
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I can’t wait for the day the Pals start showing up at the Knesset in mime gear. anon says:
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A mime is a terrible thing to waste, both in its theoretical and theatrical forms.
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The priest reads the story as the participants act the proceedings out in mime.
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The mime was a farce of popular morals, particularly of the lower classes; it was a portrayal of the dregs of society in their comic aspects.
john commented on the word mime
"To mime the wind, one becomes a tempest. To mime a fish, you throw yourself into the sea."
- Marcel Marceau
September 23, 2007
jmjarmstrong commented on the word mime
JM knows a mime who is determined to remain silent, to say the least.
June 19, 2011