meg

Everyday

1. (a name) Meg is a girl's name, short for Margaret or Megan, like Meg in «Little Women». tree →
2. (informal, computers) Short for megabyte: «a 5-meg file». tree →
3. (UK, football slang) To kick the ball between an opponent's legs; short for «nutmeg». tree →

In the lessons

As a name, Meg appears in books (Meg March in «Little Women», «Meg and Mog»). In everyday computer talk, people say «megs» for megabytes, though in modern use gigabytes are more common. On the football pitch, children shout «megs!» when someone kicks the ball through another player's legs. It is informal, not for written tests.

Examples

• Meg and Mog is a book about a witch and her cat. tree →
• My cousin Meg is learning to swim. tree →
• That photo is only two megs, so it will send quickly. tree →
• (slang, UK) He megged the defender and scored! tree →
• (slang) «Megs!» shouted everyone in the playground. tree →
• Meg is the oldest sister in «Little Women». tree →
• The game download was 300 megs. tree →
• A meg is about a million bytes. tree →
• We need not for that forget Poultry Meg, who is sitting in her capital hen-house, in our own time. tree →

Note

As a name, capital M: Meg. «Meg» for megabyte is informal; the full word or «MB» is used in school. In maths, 1 megabyte = 1,000,000 bytes (or 1,048,576 bytes in the older computer counting). «Meg» (football) is short for «nutmeg», which is also a spice – different meaning.