Emily Dickinson Lexicon

murmuring, n. [see murmur, v.]

1. Quiet complaining.
2. Quiet sustained sound.

muscle (-s), n. [L.]

Part of the body that controls movement.

muse (-s), n. [Fr. < L. < Gr. μο Øσα < pre-Hellenic montya < Indogermanic root mon, to think, remember.]

Artistic power; deity of art; one of nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (= “Memory”); goddess who oversees one of the arts and sciences; source of inspiration invoked by an artist for creative assistance; [fig.] music maker; source of lyric poetic.

muse (-d, -ing), v. [OFr.]

Ponder; contemplate; to hum, esp. while idle or preoccupied.

mushroom, n. [OFr moisseron.]

1. Type of fungus.
2. Something that grows very rapidly.

music, n. [L. < Gk 'art presided over by the Muses'.]

1. Sound; [fig.] speech; discourse; way of thinking.
2. Voice; [fig.] poetry; metrical verse with a pleasing combination of sounds.
3. Singing; symphony performance; instrumental euphony; [fig.] the influence of the Muses.
4. Melody and harmony; [fig.] celestial orders; harmony in revolution of the spheres in space.
5. Noise; swelling sound of birds singing.
6. Chirping; tweeting; bird calls.

musician (-s), n. [see music, n.]

Composer; singer; instrumental performer; [fig.] beam of sunshine; particle of light.

musket, n. [It. moschetto, kind of sparrow hawk; later extended to mean 'arrow from a crossbow'.]

1. Firearm; weapon; [fig.] Kind of bird.
2. Arms; rifle; type of gun.

muslin, adj. [Fr.]

Lightweight; like cotton fabric with a fine weave; [fig.] frail; delicate; fragile; insubstantial; immaterial.

must, n. [OE.]

Need; necessity; obligation; responsibility; requirement.