manna

noun man·na \ ˈma-nə \

Updated on: 6 Apr 2018

Definition of manna

1 a : food miraculously supplied to the Israelites in their journey through the wilderness

b : divinely supplied spiritual nourishment

c : a usually sudden and unexpected source of gratification, pleasure, or gain

2 a : the sweetish dried exudate of a Eurasian ash (especially Fraxinus ornus) that contains mannitol and has been used as a laxative and demulcent

b : a similar product excreted by a scale insect (Trabutina mannipara) feeding on the tamarisk

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Examples of manna in a Sentence

Your generous gift was manna from heaven.
the announcement that there would be a sequel was manna to the many fans of the original movie

Recent Examples of manna from the Web

Lena Dunham!—are manna for media heaven, but this one was special order.

— laura brown, Harper's BAZAAR, "Jennifer Lawrence: Truth and Beauty," 7 Apr. 2016
To his legions of fans, Miller's annual ski flick amounted to cinematic manna from heaven — an overdue shot of cold air and deep snow to stoke the fires within winter warriors who had suffered through the long, hot months of snowless summer.

— author: ron judd, Anchorage Daily News, "Pioneering, inspiring snow-sports filmmaker Warren Miller, 93, dies at Washington state home," 25 Jan. 2018
To his legions of fans, Miller's annual ski flick amounted to cinematic manna from heaven -- an overdue shot of cold air and deep snow to stoke the fires within winter warriors who had suffered through the long, hot months of snowless summer.

— the seattle times, OregonLive.com, "Warren Miller, pioneering snow-sports filmmaker, dies at 93," 25 Jan. 2018
And yet, for Trump’s opponents, the tweets are like #manna.

— ryan teague beckwith, Time, "Donald Trump Won the Shutdown by Shutting Up," 23 Jan. 2018
Comparisons to Obama are Democratic manna from heaven (if Democrats believe in heaven).

— matthew continetti, National Review, "President Trump’s Democratic Opponents Ranked," 9 Dec. 2017
Ohtani is manna from heaven, but the Angels can’t be content with just him.

— jon tayler, SI.com, "The Angels Performed a Coup by Signing Shohei Ohtani. Now, They Must Do More.," 8 Dec. 2017
But the first two are dispatched with the efficiency of a public service announcement, while the latter appears to be nothing that a half a million dollars, in the guise of manna from heaven, can’t fix.

— kevin crust, latimes.com, "'A Question of Faith' tests its characters' beliefs and the audience's patience," 29 Sep. 2017
Cranley believes the Children's issue was manna from heaven for his campaign, which was reeling after the primary loss.

— jason williams, Cincinnati.com, "PX: Mayor John Cranley's ad puts Cincinnati Children's Hospital issue 'back in the news'," 20 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'manna.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of manna

Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Greek, from Hebrew mān

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

manna Synonyms

MANNA Defined for English Language Learners

manna

noun

Definition of manna for English Language Learners

: food which according to the Bible was supplied by a miracle to the Israelites after they escaped from Egypt
: something needed that is received unexpectedly