mince

mince
    n 1: food chopped into small bits; "a mince of mushrooms"
    v 1: make less severe or harsh; "He moderated his tone when the
         students burst out in tears" [syn: {mince}, {soften},
         {moderate}]
    2: walk daintily; "She minced down the street"
    3: cut into small pieces; "mince the garlic"
    

Mince \Mince\, v. i.
   1. To walk with short steps; to walk in a prim, affected
      manner.
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            The daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with
            stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, . . . mincing
            as they go.                           --Is. iii. 16.
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            I 'll . . . turn two mincing steps
            Into a manly stride.                  --Shak.
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   2. To act or talk with affected nicety; to affect delicacy in
      manner.
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Mince \Mince\ (m[i^]ns), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Minced}
   (m[i^]nst); p. pr. & vb. n. {Minging} (m[i^]n"s[i^]ng).] [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. [root]101. See {Minish}.]
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   1. To cut into very small pieces; to chop fine; to hash; as,
      to mince meat. --Bacon.
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   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; as, he doesn't mince words.
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            I know no ways to mince it in love, but directly to
            say -- "I love you."                  --Shak.
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            Siren, now mince the sin,
            And mollify damnation with a phrase.  --Dryden.
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            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.
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   3. To affect; to make a parade of. [R.] --Shak.
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Mince \Mince\, n.
   A short, precise step; an affected manner.
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152 Moby Thesaurus words for "mince":
      allow for, amble, aspic, atomize, barbecue, barge, boiled meat,
      bouilli, bowl along, break into pieces, break to pieces, break up,
      bridle, bundle, civet, clump, color, crash, croak, crunch, crush,
      cut to pieces, demolish, diffuse, diminish, disperse, disrupt,
      drag, drawl, droop, ease, extenuate, fission, flesh, flounce, foot,
      footslog, forcemeat, fragment, gait, gallop, game, gloss over,
      grind, hachis, halt, hash, hippety-hop, hitch, hobble, hop, ignore,
      jerky, jog, joint, jolt, jugged hare, jump, lessen, limp, lisp,
      lock step, lumber, lunge, lurch, make allowance for,
      make mincemeat of, meat, menue viande, mince it, mincing steps,
      mitigate, pace, paddle, palliate, peg, pemmican, piaffe, piaffer,
      plod, pot roast, prance, prink, pulverize, quaver, rack, roast,
      roll, sashay, saunter, sausage meat, scatter, scrapple, scuff,
      scuffle, scuttle, shake, shamble, shatter, shiver, shuffle, sidle,
      simper, single-foot, skip, slink, slither, slog, slouch, slowness,
      slur over, smash, smash up, smirk, soft-pedal, soften, splinter,
      squash, squish, stagger, stalk, stamp, step, stomp, straddle,
      straggle, stride, stroll, strolling gait, strut, stump, swagger,
      swing, talk incoherently, tittup, toddle, totter, traipse, tread,
      trip, trot, trudge, varnish, velocity, venison, viande, waddle,
      walk, wamble, whitewash, wiggle, wobble