What is "the masses"

Mass \Mass\, n. [OE. masse, F. masse, L. massa; akin to Gr. ? a barley cake, fr. ? to knead. Cf. Macerate.]

1. A quantity of matter cohering together so as to make one body, or an aggregation of particles or things which collectively make one body or quantity, usually of considerable size; as, a mass of ore, metal, sand, or water.

   If it were not for these principles, the bodies of the earth, planets, comets, sun, and all things in them, would grow cold and freeze, and become inactive masses.
   --Sir I. Newton.

   A deep mass of continual sea is slower stirred To rage.
   --Savile.

2. (Phar.) A medicinal substance made into a cohesive, homogeneous lump, of consistency suitable for making pills; as, blue mass.

3. A large quantity; a sum.

   All the mass of gold that comes into Spain.
   --Sir W. Raleigh.

   He had spent a huge mass of treasure.
   --Sir J. Davies.

4. Bulk; magnitude; body; size.

   This army of such mass and charge.
   --Shak.

5. The principal part; the main body.

   Night closed upon the pursuit, and aided the mass of the fugitives in their escape.
   --Jowett (Thucyd.).

6. (Physics) The quantity of matter which a body contains, irrespective of its bulk or volume.

   Note: Mass and weight are often used, in a general way, as interchangeable terms, since the weight of a body is proportional to its mass (under the same or equal gravitative forces), and the mass is usually ascertained from the weight. Yet the two ideas, mass and weight, are quite distinct. Mass is the quantity of matter in a body; weight is the comparative force with which it tends towards the center of the earth. A mass of sugar and a mass of lead are assumed to be equal when they show an equal weight by balancing each other in the scales.

   Blue mass. See under Blue.

   Mass center (Geom.), the center of gravity of a triangle.

   Mass copper, native copper in a large mass.

   Mass meeting, a large or general assembly of people, usually a meeting having some relation to politics.

   The masses, the great body of the people, as contrasted with the higher classes; the populace.

The Masses was a graphically innovative magazine of socialist politics published monthly in the United States from 1911 until 1917, when federal prosecutors brought charges against its editors for conspiring to obstruct conscription. It was succeeded by The Liberator and then later The New Masses. It published reportage, fiction, poetry and art by the leading radicals of the time such as Max Eastman, John Reed, Dorothy Day, and Floyd Dell.

The Masses is a magazine of socialist politics published monthly in the U.S. from 1911 until 1917.

The Masses may also refer to:

• The masses, the main toiling part of the population
• The Masses (Egyptian newspaper), a communist weekly newspaper
• The Masses (Thai newspaper), a communist weekly newspaper