| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| Mardi Gras |
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| SYLLABICATION: | Mar·di Gras |
| PRONUNCIATION: | mär d grä |
| NOUN: | 1a. Shrove Tuesday, celebrated as a holiday in many places with carnivals, masquerade balls, and parades of costumed merrymakers. b. A carnival period coming to a climax on this day. 2. An occasion of great festivity and merrymaking. | | ETYMOLOGY: | French : mardi, Tuesday + gras, fat (from the feasting on Mardi Gras before Lenten fasting).
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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