# mesh

Pronunciation: say "MESH" /mɛʃ/

## Noun

1. Material made of strands of metal, fiber, or another bendable substance joined together, leaving evenly spaced holes.
   - Simple: Wires, threads, or other bendable strands joined together, with evenly spaced holes between them.
   - _Workers laid steel mesh across the site before pouring the concrete slab._
   - _Running shoes with mesh uppers let air circulate around the feet._
4. A single opening enclosed by the threads of a net from knot to knot, or the threads that form its edges.
   - Simple: One of the holes between the knots of a net, or the threads around a hole.
   - _Each mesh of the trawl net is wide enough to let young fish escape._
   - _The diver cut through three meshes to free the trapped turtle._
5. A network topology in which each device connects to several other devices rather than to a central switch, so the redundant links avoid single points of failure.
   - Simple: A way of connecting devices so each one links to several others instead of to one central device.
   - _The farm's soil sensors form a wireless mesh, relaying readings from one unit to the next until they reach the barn._
   - _Because the routers are linked in a full mesh, the failure of any one still leaves traffic with other routes to take._
6. A collection of connected polygons, defined by their vertices and edges, that models the surface of a three-dimensional object in computer graphics.
   - Simple: A shape made of many small flat pieces joined together, used to build 3D objects on a computer.
   - _The character's mesh was reduced to a few thousand triangles so it would render quickly on phones._
   - _After scanning the statue, the team patched holes in the mesh before printing a replica._
7. The engagement of the teeth of two gearwheels, or of a gearwheel with a toothed rack.
   - Simple: The way the teeth of two gears, or a gear and a toothed bar, fit together.
   - _The pinion stays in constant mesh with the rack, so every turn of the steering wheel shifts the rack sideways._
   - _Worn teeth gave the gears a poor mesh, and the machine began to chatter._

## Verb

2. To fit in or come together harmoniously with someone or something else.
   - Simple: To fit in, or to come together and work well with something else.
   - _The new hires meshed quickly with the rest of the team._
   - _Their schedules never seem to mesh, so the two friends rarely see each other._
3. To connect, or become connected, by interlocking, as the teeth of gears do.
   - Simple: To fit or join together by locking into each other, the way gear teeth do.
   - _Engineers redesigned the gearbox so drivers could mesh the gears without grinding them._
   - _As the zipper closes, its small metal teeth mesh in a neat row._
8. To catch something in a net or similar mesh.
   - Simple: To catch something in a net or in material like a net.
   - _Gill nets are set across the river to mesh salmon by the gills as they swim upstream._
   - _A careless sweep of the net meshed a turtle along with the shrimp._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A measure of fineness (particle size) of ground material. A powder that passes through a sieve having 300 openings per linear inch but does not pass 400 openings per linear inch is said to be -300 +400 mesh.
- (noun) In mesh analysis: a loop in an electric circuit (to which Kirchhoff's voltage law can be applied).

## Origin

From Middle English mesche, from Old English masc ("net"), perhaps influenced in form by the related Old English mæscre ("mesh, spot"). Both come from Proto-Germanic *maskrǭ, *maskwǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *mezg- ("to knit, twist, plait"), and are related to Old High German māsca ("mesh"), Old Saxon maska ("net"), and Old Norse mǫskvi, mǫskun ("mesh").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/mesh (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).