Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - mandarin

(mandarins) 1. Journalists sometimes use mandarin to refer to someone who has an important job in the Civil Service. (BRIT) ...Foreign Office mandarins. N-COUNT: usu supp N 2. Mandarin is the official language of China. N-UNCOUNT 3. A mandarin or a mandarin orange is a small orange whose skin comes off easily. N-COUNT 4. A mandarin was, in former times, an important government official in China. N-COUNT