be a mass of (something)

To be covered with or blanketed in something. I have so much work to do that my desk is just a mass of paperwork right now. A: "Where is your bed? It's just a mass of clothes at this point!" B: "I know, I'm in the midst of cleaning out my closet." You know it's exam time when everyone's lunch tables are just a mass of textbooks.

consume mass quantities

To eat, drink, or otherwise consume large amounts of something. Primarily heard in US. Large family holidays are all typified by consuming mass quantities of food and alcohol. As the largest economy on the planet, our prerogative seems to be to consume mass quantities of the Earth's resources. A: "Please don't let the kids consume mass quantities of sugar today." B: "Oh, come on, it's a birthday party!"

in the mass

As a whole; taken collectively. I know you're against the new traffic light, but people in the mass are for it, so you've got an uphill battle protesting against it. That change in curriculum has not been accepted by the teachers in the mass. In one such study, the results in the control group were consistent with the population in the mass.

mass destruction

Widespread death and devastation. If they launch a nuclear attack against us, it will cause mass destruction.

weapon of mass destruction

Any weapon, especially one that is nuclear, chemical, or biological in nature, that can be used to end lives and cause damage on a very large scale. Popularized in recent times by the administration of US President George W. Bush in relation to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Sometimes used for hyperbolic, sarcastic, or humorous effect. The report concluded that the country had been manufacturing weapons of mass destruction in order to cause as much death and destruction as possible. Ugh, crack a window, dude—that fart was a weapon of mass destruction!

be a ˈmass of something

be full of or covered with something: The garden was a mass of flowers.

weapons of mass destruction

Also, WMD. Weapons that can greatly harm or kill large numbers of people and/or severely damage man-made structures or the biosphere. The term was first used by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1937 with reference to the aerial bombardment of Guernica, Spain. Less than a decade later, the term was applied to nonconventional weapons, specifically nuclear weapons. During the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, the term was used by President John F. Kennedy, referring to nuclear missiles. Fearing Iraq’s use of nuclear weapons, the alleged existence of such weapons became the main justification for the 2003 invasion of that country. By then, the term was so well known and so often abbreviated that it was on its way to clichédom.