Definition mean in British English

When you want to say what something involves or what its result is, use the verb mean followed by the -ing form. Don’t use an infinitive:

✗ Being tolerant means not to be prejudiced.

✓ Being tolerant means not being prejudiced.

✗ Reversing these changes would mean to challenge the power of the government.

✓ Reversing these changes would mean challenging the power of the government.

Use mean with an infinitive when you want to say that someone intends to do something:

They intend to pour cash into the health service, but they also mean to reform it.

In this sense, mean is often used in the passive:

Taking children into care is meant to be in the interests of the children, not the state.