mother(1) (iou) and irritable bowel syndrome (medicine)

mother(1) (iou)

mother noun1 & adjective.
[Old English modor = Old Frisian, Old Saxon modor (Dutch moeder), Old High German muotar (German Mutter), Old Norse moeir, from Germanic, from Indo-European base also of Latin mater, Greek (Doric) mater, (Attic, Ionic) meter, Old Church Slavonic mati (mater-), Old Irish mathir (Irish mathair), Sanskrit mat, matar-, Tocharian macar. See also MOTHER noun2.]
A. noun.
A female parent of a human being (used as a form of address by a son or daughter, and sometimes a son- or daughter-in-law, and sometimes also familiarly by the father of a woman's child or children or by any husband); a woman who undertakes the responsibilities of a mother towards a child. Also, a female parent of an animal. OE.
adoptive mother, biological mother, birth mother, foster-mother, natural mother, etc.
Tennyson Lambs are glad Nosing the mother's udder. A. Christie Mother and I..feel it's only neighbourly to do what we can. Woman's Own Expectant mothers will be immunized.
b. As interjection. Expr. surprise, dismay, etc. Freq. my mother! M19.
A female ancestor. Long rare. OE.
fig. A quality, institution, place, etc., that is likened to a mother in her aspect of giving birth or exercising protective care, or as an object of affectionate respect; a source; a main stock or stem. OE.
Goldsmith Nature, a mother kind alike to all. B. Franklin The repeal of that mother of mischiefs, the Stamp Act. South African Panorama The cow..is celebrated as mother and rescuer of the Hindu people.
Used as a form of address to an elderly woman, esp. of little means or Education. Also used (instead of 'Mrs') before the surname of such a person. arch. ME.
A. Christie 'Don't you take on so, mother' that's what the sergeant said to me.
A woman who exercises control like that of a mother, or who is looked up to as a mother; a matron, a house-mother. LME.
L. Strachey The Queen was hailed..as the mother of her people. Guardian A new school and dormitory for the pages 'with a full-time mother and hot meals'.
b. The head or superior of a female religious community. Also used as a form of address. E17.
c. A woman who runs a brothel. slang. L18.
d. A female owner of a pet, esp. a dog. colloq. E20.
Anatomy. (In full hard mother) = DURA MATER; (in full godly mother, meek mother, mild mother, soft mother) = PIA MATER. LME-E17.
a. The womb. LME-E18.
b. Hysteria. arch. L15.
Womanly or maternal qualities. L16.
A certain figure in geomancy. L16-L19.
Liquid left after a dissolved substance has been crystallized out. E17.
In full artificial mother. An apparatus for rearing chickens artificially. E19.
A cask or vat used in vinegar-making. M19.
A disc with grooves that is made from the plating of an electrotyped master matrix and is used to make a stamper for gramophone records. E20.
a. ellipt. = mother-fucker below. N. Amer. coarse slang. M20.
J. Updike You haven't seen the lab!..We finally got the mother finished, all but some accessory wiring.
b. A thing very big of its kind. Chiefly in big mother. Cf. the father of a, the father and mother of a s.v. FATHER noun. N. Amer. colloq. L20.
Phrases: artificial mother: see sense 11 above. be mother colloq. serve out Food or drink; spec. be the person who pours the tea. fits of the mother arch. hysteria. hard mother, godly mother: see sense 6 above. (just) like mother makes (it), (just) like mother used to make (it) having the qualities of Home Cooking; exactly to one's taste. meek mother, mild mother: see sense 6 above. Mother of God the Virgin Mary. mother of months: see mother of the months below. Mother of Parliaments (a) England; (b) the British Parliament. mother of the maids the head of the maids of honour in the royal household. mother of the months, mother of months the moon. mother of thyme wild thyme, Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus. mothers and fathers a game in which children play at being mother and father. my sainted mother: see SAINTED 2. Reverend Mother: see REVEREND. soft mother: see sense 6 above. surrogate mother: see SURROGATE adjective. the father and mother of a: see FATHER noun. wife and mother: see WIFE noun.
b. attrib. or as adjective. (Freq. with hyphen.)
That is a mother. ME.
Coleridge The mother-falcon hath her nest above it.
Inherited or learned from one's mother; native. LME.
G. Borrow You want two things, brother: mother sense, and gentle Rommany.
Special collocations & comb.: mother-and-babe adjective = mother-in-babe below. mother-and-baby Home a maternity Home for unmarried mothers, usu. with pre- and postnatal Services. motherboard a printed circuit board containing the principal components of a microcomputer etc., to which daughterboards may be connected. Mother Bunch (a) slang water; (b) colloq. a stout or untidy old woman. Mother Carey's chicken: see CHICKEN noun1. mother cell Biology a cell which undergoes division and gives rise to daughter cells; spec. a cell which undergoes meiotic division. Mother Church: see CHURCH noun. mother-city (a) the city from which the founders of a colony came; (b) a city regarded as serving as a mother to someone. mother-clove the dried fruit of the clove tree, resembling a clove in appearance but less aromatic. mother coal mineral charcoal. mother complex Psychology a complex about one's mother. mother country (a) a country in relation to its colonies or dependencies, the country from which the founders of a colony came; (b) the country of one's birth. mother earth the earth considered as the mother of its inhabitants and productions; the ground; earth, soil. mother-figure a person or thing endowed with some of the attributes of a mother; esp. an older woman who is seen as a source of nurture, support, etc. mother-fucker coarse slang (chiefly N. Amer.), an obnoxious or despicable person; a very unpleasant person or thing. mother-fucking adjective (coarse slang, chiefly N. Amer.) despicable, obnoxious, very unpleasant. mother goddess (a) Classical Mythology a goddess who is the mother of a hero; (b) a deity with the attributes of a mother; a fertility goddess. Mother Goose rhyme N. Amer. a nursery rhyme. mother-grabbing adjective (US slang) = mother-fucking above. mother hen (a) a hen with chicks; (b) a person who sees to the needs of others, esp. in a fussy or annoying way. mother-house the founding house of a religious order. Mother Hubbard a kind of cloak; (chiefly US) a kind of loose-fitting garment. mother image, mother imago Psychology the mental image of an idealized or archetypal mother. mother-in-babe adjective designating a wooden bobbin with a hollow shank which contains another smaller bobbin. mother-in-law, pl. mothers-in-law, (a) the mother of one's spouse; (b) a stepmother; (c) mother-in-law's tongue, a W. African plant, Sansevieria trifasciata, of the agave family, with long transversely banded leaves, grown as a house-plant. motherland a person's native country; a country as the source or producer of something. mother language = mother tongue below. mother liquid, mother liquor = sense A.10 above. mother-lode Mining a principal vein of ore; fig. a principal or rich source. mother love: such as a mother feels for her child. mother-loving adjective (a) that loves one's own mother; (b) coarse slang = mother-fucking above. mother mould a rigid mould which holds a sculptor's casting material. mother naked adjective completely naked. Mother Nature: see Nature noun. mother of thousands (a) any of several creeping plants prolific in flowers; esp. ivy-leaved toadflax, Cymbalaria muralis; (b) mind-your-own-business, Soleirolia soleirolii. mother plane an aircraft which launches or controls another aircraft. mother plant a parent plant from which Other plants have been derived. mother queen (a) a queen mother; (b) a queen bee. mother right (a) matriarchy; (b) the custom by which dynastic succession passes only in the female line. mother's boy, mother's darling a boy or man who is excessively influenced by or attached to his mother. Mother's Day, Mothers' Day (orig. US) a day on which mothers are honoured with cards, gifts, etc.: in N. America, the second Sunday in May; in Britain, Mothering Sunday. mother's help a person who helps a mother, mainly by looking after children. mother ship (a) a ship or airship escorting or having charge of a number of Other, usu. smaller, craft; (b) an aircraft or rocket from which another aircraft or rocket is launched or controlled. Mother Shipton a noctuid moth, Euclidimera mi, with a wavy mark on each forewing said to resemble the face of a crone; also called shipton moth. mother's mark (now rare) a naevus. mothers' meeting orig., a meeting (usually weekly) of mothers connected with a parish or congregation, for the purpose of receiving instruction and advice; now usu. fig., a group of people in conversation together, esp. when they should be doing something else. mother's milk: see MILK noun. mother's pet (a) an indulged or spoiled child; (b) the youngest child of a family. mother's ruin colloq. gin. mother's son a man (chiefly in every mother's son, every man, everyone). mother stone (a) the matrix of a mineral; (b) a rock from which another is derived by structural or chemical change. Mothers' Union an Anglican organization for women with the aim of fostering Christian family life. Mother Superior: see SUPERIOR adjective. mother tincture Homoeopathy a pure undiluted tincture of a drug. mother-to-be, pl. mothers-to-be, an expectant mother. mother tongue (a) one's native language; (b) a language which has given rise to others. mother water = sense 10 above. mother wit a person's natural wit; common sense. motherwort any of various plants formerly believed valuable in diseases of the womb; spec. a labiate herb, Leonurus cardiaca.
motherkin(s) noun (an affectionate name for) one's mother L19.
motherling noun = motherkin(s) M19.
mothership noun (long rare) motherhood; the conduct of a mother; motherly care: LME.

irritable bowel syndrome (medicine)

irritable bowel syndrome
<syndrome> A functional bowel disorder characterised by recurrent crampy abdominal pain and diarrhoea. Invasive gastrointestinal diagnostics are often unrevealing.

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