If it were not for these principles, the bodies of
the earth, planets, comets, sun, and all things in
them, would grow cold and freeze, and become
inactive masses. --Sir I.
Newton.
A deep mass of continual sea is slower stirred To
rage. --Savile.
2. (Phar.) A medicinal substance made into a cohesive,
homogeneous lump, of consistency suitable for making
pills; as, blue mass.
All the mass of gold that comes into Spain. --Sir W.
Raleigh.
He had spent a huge mass of treasure. --Sir J.
Davies.
4. Bulk; magnitude; body; size.
This army of such mass and charge. --Shak.
5. The principal part; the main body.
Night closed upon the pursuit, and aided the mass of
the fugitives in their escape. --Jowett
(Thucyd.).
6. (Physics) The quantity of matter which a body contains,
irrespective of its bulk or volume.
Note: Mass and weight are often used, in a general way, as
interchangeable terms, since the weight of a body is
proportional to its mass (under the same or equal
gravitative forces), and the mass is usually
ascertained from the weight. Yet the two ideas, mass
and weight, are quite distinct. Mass is the quantity of
matter in a body; weight is the comparative force with
which it tends towards the center of the earth. A mass
of sugar and a mass of lead are assumed to be equal
when they show an equal weight by balancing each other
in the scales.
{Blue mass}. See under {Blue}.
{Mass center} (Geom.), the center of gravity of a triangle.
{Mass copper}, native copper in a large mass.
{Mass meeting}, a large or general assembly of people,
usually a meeting having some relation to politics.
{The masses}, the great body of the people, as contrasted
with the higher classes; the populace.
2. (Mus.) The portions of the Mass usually set to music,
considered as a musical composition; -- namely, the Kyrie,
the Gloria, the Credo, the Sanctus, and the Agnus Dei,
besides sometimes an Offertory and the Benedictus.
{Canon of the Mass}. See {Canon}.
{High Mass}, Mass with incense, music, the assistance of a
deacon, subdeacon, etc.
{Low Mass}, Mass which is said by the priest through-out,
without music.
{Mass bell}, the sanctus bell. See {Sanctus}.
{Mass book}, the missal or Roman Catholic service book.
But mass them together and they are terrible indeed.
--Coleridge.