■ a sign or indication of a quality or feeling: a mark of respect.

■ a written symbol made on a document in place of a signature by someone who cannot write.

■ a competitor's starting point in a race.

■ Nautical a piece of material or a knot used to indicate a depth on a sounding line.

■ Telecommunications one of two possible states of a signal in certain systems.

■ a level or stage: unemployment passed the two million mark.

■ a figure or letter representing the total of such points.

■ (also handicap mark) Horse Racing an official assessment of a horse's form, used as the basis for calculating the weight the horse has to carry in a race.

■ informal, chiefly US a person who is easily deceived or taken advantage of: they figure I'm an easy mark.

■ become stained.

■ (mark something up) annotate or correct a text for printing, keying, or typesetting.

■ separate or distinguish by means of a particular feature or characteristic.

■ (mark someone out for) select or destine someone for (a particular role).

■ (mark someone down as) judge someone to be.

■ be an indication of (a significant event or phase).

■ (mark someone/thing down) reduce the number of marks awarded to a candidate or their work.

■ Australian Rules catch (the ball) from a kick of at least ten metres.