Definition of "means"

And by this means also he had them the more at vantage, being tired and harassed with a long march; and more at mercy, being cut off far from their country, and therefore not able by any sudden flight to get to retreat, and to renew their troubles.

1622, Francis Bacon, History of the reign of King Henry VII

Our hope in him is dead: let us return,And strain what other means is left unto usIn our dear peril.

1623, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, act V, scene 1

In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.

2013 June 7, Ed Pilkington, “‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 6

Where there is much means to be used, and conditions yet to be performed, for the continuation and Consummation of our Justification, there it is not yet continued or consummate.

1676, Richard Baxter, A Treatise of Justifying Righteousness, page 163

Because there is too much civilisation, too much means of subsistence, too much industry, too much commerce

1888, Karl Marx, edited by Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto, page 5

Then the other 12 packers […] were men without much means, who lived in Fresno

1921, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary, Authorizing association of producers of agricultural products, page 99

Some kind of writer. He didn't have to make a living; he had means.

1955, Rex Stout, “Die Like a Dog”, in Three Witnesses, Bantam Books, published 1994 October, page 154