mince

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
mince/mɪns/

▶verb

• 1 (often as adj. minced) cut up or shred (meat) into very small pieces.

• 2 walk in an affected manner with short, quick steps and swinging hips.

▶noun chiefly Brit. minced meat.

– phrases
mince words (or one's words) [usu. with neg.] voice one's disapproval delicately or gently.

– derivatives
mincer noun,
mincing adjective,
mincingly adverb.

– origin ME: from OFr. mincier, based on L. minutia ‘smallness’.