musth , must n often preceded by: in a state of frenzied sexual excitement in the males of certain large mammals, esp. elephants, associated with discharge from a gland between the ear and eye (C19: from Urdu mast, from Persian: drunk)
must [1] (unstressed)
vb takes an infinitive without: to or an implied infinitive, used as an auxiliary
1 to express obligation or compulsion: you must pay your dues. In this sense, must does not form a negative. If used with a negative infinitive it indicates obligatory prohibition
2 to indicate necessity
I must go to the bank tomorrow
3 to indicate the probable correctness of a statement
he must be there by now
4 to indicate inevitability
all good things must come to an end
a on the part of the speaker when used with I or we
I must finish this
b on the part of another or others as imputed to them by the speaker, when used with you, he, she, they, etc.
let him get drunk if he must
6 used emphatically to express conviction or certainty on the part of the speaker
he must have reached the town by now, surely, you must be joking
7 foll by: away used with an implied verb of motion to express compelling haste
I must away
n
8 an essential or necessary thing
strong shoes are a must for hill walking
(Old English moste past tense of motan to be allowed, be obliged to; related to Old Saxon motan, Old High German muozan, German müssen)
must [2]
n the newly pressed juice of grapes or other fruit ready for fermentation
(Old English, from Latin mustum new wine, must, from mustus (adj) newborn)
must [3]
n mustiness or mould
(C17: back formation from musty)
must [4]
n a variant spelling of →
musth