Mardi Gras: Meaning and Definition of

Mar•di Gras

Pronunciation: (mär'dē grä", grä'), [key]
  1. the day before Lent, celebrated in some cities, as New Orleans and Paris, as a day of carnival and merrymaking; Shrove Tuesday.
  2. a pre-Lenten carnival period climaxing on this day.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.