Mash Definition

măsh

mashed, mashes, mashing

noun

mashes

A fermentable starchy mixture from which alcohol or spirits can be distilled.

American Heritage

Crushed or ground malt or meal soaked in hot water for making wort, used in brewing beer.

Webster's New World

A mixture of bran, meal, etc. in warm water, for feeding horses, cattle, etc.

Webster's New World

Any soft mixture or mass.

Webster's New World

Mashed potatoes.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

verb

mashed, mashes, mashing

To mix (crushed malt, etc.) in hot water for making wort.

Webster's New World

To change into a soft or uniform mass by beating, crushing, etc.

Webster's New World

To crush and injure or damage.

Webster's New World

To apply pressure to; press.

American Heritage

To make sexual advances to; flirt with.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

abbreviation

Mobile army surgical hospital.

Webster's New World

Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.

Wiktionary

Origin of Mash

From Middle English mash, mash-, from Old English mÇ£sc-, māsc-, māx-, from Proto-Germanic *maiskaz, *maiskō (“mixture, mash"), from Proto-Indo-European *meiǵ-, *meiḱ- (“to mix"). Akin to German Meisch, Maische (“mash"), (compare meischen, maischen (“to mash, wash")), Swedish mäsk (“mash"), and to Old English miscian (“to mix"). See mix.

From Wiktionary
Either by analogy with mash (“to press, to soften"), or more likely from Romani masha (“a fascinator, an enticer"), mashdva (“fascination, enticement"). Originally used in theater, and recorded in US in 1870s. Either originally used as mash, or a backformation from masher, from masha. Leland writes of the etymology:

From Wiktionary
Middle English mash- (as in mashfat mash tub) from Old English māsc, *mǣsc, māx- (in māxwyrt wort) meik- in Indo-European roots V., sense 4, perhaps from Romani mash to entice

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
See mesh

From Wiktionary