Is black clothing a magnate or a magnet for animal hair? Does a horse have a main or a mane? Did Native American Indians eat maize or maze?
magnate, magnet
A magnate is a person of rank, power, influence, or distinction often in a specified area.
The steel magnate had plans to start yet another steel mill in the already prosperous town.
A magnet is a thing or person that attracts.
Black clothing is a magnet for animal hair.
mail, male
Mail is material (such as letters and packages) sent or carried in a postal system.
My dogs always let me know when the mail is delivered.
A male is a man or boy.
More males than females were in attendance at the school today.
main, mane
As a noun, one of the meanings of main is a pipe, duct, or circuit which carries the combined flow of tributary branches of a utility system.
Aging pipes caused the water main to break.
As an adjective, one of its meanings is chief or principal.
The city’s main event of the winter season is its spectacular Christmas parade.
Long and heavy hair growing about the neck and head of some mammals, such as horses and lions, is a mane.
Her horse’s thick mane was so beautiful that it would look at place in any shampoo commercial.
maize, maze
Maize is corn. It is also a pale yellow that resembles the color of corn.
Maize, an important crop to the Native American Indian, was eaten with almost every meal.
A maze is a confusing intricate network of passages. Or it is something confusingly elaborate or complicated.
The beautiful yet confusing maze was filled with flowers of every kind.
mall, maul, moll
A mall is a large retail complex containing a variety of stores and often restaurants and other business establishments housed in a series of connected or adjacent buildings or in a single large building. Or it is a large area, usually lined with shade trees and shrubbery, used as a public walk or promenade.
The school girls giggled excitedly, their eyes wide with wonder, as they walked through the new mall.
As a noun, a maul is a heavy hammer, as for driving stakes or wedges. As a verb, it means to handle or use roughly.
The young man used a maul to break up the hard ground.
A moll is a gangster’s girlfriend.
Becoming a moll had in no way been her life’s ambition, but a gangster had captured her heart.
manner, manor
Manner means the characteristic or customary mode of acting, the mode of procedure or way of acting.
He responded to the joyful news in a lively manner.
A manor is the house or hall of an estate, a mansion.
The village had many unsavory rumors floating around about the family who lived in the manor.
mantel, mantle
A mantel is a shelf above a fireplace opening.
Our mantel is filled with pleasantly scented candles.
A mantle is a loose sleeveless garment worn over other clothes. A mantle is also a figurative cloak symbolizing preeminence or authority.
Ellijah passed his mantle on to Elisha.
marquee, marquis, marquise
A marquee is a large tent set up for an outdoor party, reception, or exhibition. It is also a permanent canopy often of metal and glass projecting over an entrance (as of a hotel or theater), or it is a sign usually over the entrance of a theater or arena that displays the names of featured attractions and principal performers.
The huge marquee for the town’s celebration covered several acres.
A marquis is a member of the British peerage ranking below a duke and above an earl.
Her marriage to a British marquis was widely publicized.
A marquise is the wife or widow of a marquis.
The marquise, dressed in all black, remained hidden from the public for several years while mourning the death of her husband.
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