max
part of speech
noun (max — informal, short for maximum); adjective; verb (max out, maxes, maxed, maxing); also a name (Max)
meaning for a pupil
1) (informal) Short for «maximum»: the biggest amount possible. tree →
2) (informal, adverb) At most («It'll take ten minutes max»). tree →
3) (verb, informal) max out = use up to the limit («maxed out the card»). tree →
4) (slang) «to the max» = completely. tree →
5) (a name) Max, a boy's name (short for Maximilian or Maxwell). tree →
6) (maths, computing) max — the largest value in a set. tree →
sense in the lessons
Interpretation: Here it is a Hebrew word with vowels (the letters Aleph, Vav, Yod) used as the three "mother letters." Medieval teacher Dunash ibn Tamim thought the mother letters meant the vowel letters. In the primary lessons: In maths and computing: «max» and «min» find the largest and smallest numbers. Everyday: «ten minutes max». On cookers and games: turn it up to max. Phrases: «to the max», «max out», «at the max».
examples
- The first to perceive that max means vowels was Dunash Ibn 'J'amim *'), who explained that by the three mother letters tPOS the Sefer Yczirah meant the three vowel letters "x. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →
- I'll be ten minutes, max. tree →
- Turn the volume up to max! tree →
- The max score is 100 points. tree →
- Find the max of 4, 9 and 7 — it's 9. tree →
- He maxed out his phone's storage. tree →
- We partied to the max. tree →
- My dog is called Max. tree →
note
Informal; in exam writing use «maximum». In maths «max» = the greatest value, «min» = the smallest. «Max» as a name has a capital.
In the corpora
- Max in Dublin copied his friend's maths homework twice and got away with it, so he thought he always could.
- The teacher noticed, his friend got in trouble too, and Max's planner came home to be signed.
- Max slammed his door and said «It's not fair!» and didn't speak to Mum all evening.
- Max in Sydney promised «no homework ever» if he became class captain.
- Max had copied homework and owned up; next term his teacher let him mark his own spelling test.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «max» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.