Adjacent Words

Mate definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MATE, n.
1. A companion; an associate; one who customarily associates with another. Young persons nearly of an age, and frequently associating, are called mates or playmates.
2. A husband or wife.
3. The male or female of animals which associate for propagation and the care of their young.
4. One that eats at the same table.
5. One that attends the same school; a school-mate.
6. An officer in a merchant ship or ship of war, whose duty is to assist the master or commander. In a merchant ship, the mate,in the absence of the master, takes command of the ship. Large ships have a first, second, and third mate.
In general, mate, in compound words, denotes an assistant, and ranks next in subordination to the principal; as master's mate; surgeon's mate, etc.
MATE, n. In chess, the state of the king so situated that he cannot escape.
MATE, v.t. To match; to marry.
1. To equal; to be equal to.
For thus the mastful chestnut mates the skies.
2. To oppose; to equal.
--I i' th' way of loyalty and truth,
Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be.
MATE, v.t. To enervate; to subdue; to crush.
Audacity doth almost bind and mate the weaker sort of minds. [Not used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the officer below the master on a commercial ship [syn: mate, first mate]
2: a fellow member of a team; "it was his first start against his former teammates" [syn: teammate, mate]
3: the partner of an animal (especially a sexual partner); "he loved the mare and all her mates"; "camels hate leaving their mates"
4: a person's partner in marriage [syn: spouse, partner, married person, mate, better half]
5: an exact duplicate; "when a match is found an entry is made in the notebook" [syn: match, mate]
6: one of a pair; "he lost the mate to his shoe"; "one eye was blue but its fellow was brown" [syn: mate, fellow]
7: South American holly; leaves used in making a drink like tea [syn: mate, Paraguay tea, Ilex paraguariensis]
8: informal term for a friend of the same sex
9: South American tea-like drink made from leaves of a South American holly called mate
10: a chess move constituting an inescapable and indefensible attack on the opponent's king [syn: checkmate, mate] v
1: engage in sexual intercourse; "Birds mate in the Spring" [syn: copulate, mate, pair, couple]
2: bring two objects, ideas, or people together; "This fact is coupled to the other one"; "Matchmaker, can you match my daughter with a nice young man?"; "The student was paired with a partner for collaboration on the project" [syn: match, mate, couple, pair, twin]
3: place an opponent's king under an attack from which it cannot escape and thus ending the game; "Kasparov checkmated his opponent after only a few moves" [syn: checkmate, mate]

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb (mated; mating) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French mater, from mat, noun, checkmate, ultimately from Arabic m?t (in sh?h m?t) Date: 14th century checkmate 2 II. noun Date: 14th century checkmate 1 III. noun Etymology: Middle English, probably from Middle Low German m?t; akin to Old English gemetta guest at one's table, mete food — more at meat Date: 14th century 1. a. (1) associate, companion (2) chiefly British an assistant to a more skilled worker ; helper (3) chiefly British friend, buddy — often used as a familiar form of address b. archaic match, peer 2. a deck officer on a merchant ship ranking below the captain 3. one of a pair: as a. either member of a couple and especially a married couple b. either member of a breeding pair of animals c. either of two matched objects IV. verb (mated; mating) Date: 1509 transitive verb 1. archaic equal, match 2. to join or fit together ; couple 3. a. to join together as mates b. to provide a mate for intransitive verb 1. to become mated <gears that mate well> 2. copulate

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 a friend or fellow worker. 2 colloq. a general form of address, esp. to another man. 3 a each of a pair, esp. of birds. b colloq. a partner in marriage. c (in comb.) a fellow member or joint occupant of (team-mate; room-mate). 4 Naut. an officer on a merchant ship subordinate to the master. 5 an assistant to a skilled worker (plumber's mate). --v. (often foll. by with) 1 a tr. bring (animals or birds) together for breeding. b intr. (of animals or birds) come together for breeding. 2 a tr. join (persons) in marriage. b intr. (of persons) be joined in marriage. 3 intr. Mech. fit well. Derivatives: mateless adj. Etymology: ME f. MLG mate f. gemate messmate f. WG, rel. to MEAT 2. n. & v.tr. Chess = CHECKMATE. Phrases and idioms: fool's mate a series of moves in which the first player is mated at the second player's second move. scholar's mate a series of moves in which the second player is mated at the first player's fourth move. Etymology: ME f. F mat(er): see CHECKMATE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mate Mate, n. [Perhaps for older make a companion; cf. also OD. maet companion, mate, D. maat. Cf. Make a companion, Match a mate.] 1. One who customarily associates with another; a companion; an associate; any object which is associated or combined with a similar object. 2. Hence, specifically, a husband or wife; and among the lower animals, one of a pair associated for propagation and the care of their young. 3. A suitable companion; a match; an equal. Ye knew me once no mate For you; there sitting where you durst not soar. --Milton. 4. (Naut.) An officer in a merchant vessel ranking next below the captain. If there are more than one bearing the title, they are called, respectively, first mate, second mate, third mate, etc. In the navy, a subordinate officer or assistant; as, master's mate; surgeon's mate.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mate Ma"te, n. [Sp.] The Paraguay tea, being the dried leaf of the Brazilian holly (Ilex Paraguensis). The infusion has a pleasant odor, with an agreeable bitter taste, and is much used for tea in South America.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mate Mate, n. [F. mat, abbrev. fr. ['e]chec et mat. See Checkmate.] (Chess) Same as Checkmate.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mate Mate, a. See 2d Mat. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mate Mate, v. t. [F. mater to fatigue, enfeeble, humiliate, checkmate. See Mate checkmate.] 1. To confuse; to confound. [Obs.] --Shak. 2. To checkmate.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mate Mate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mated; p. pr. & vb. n. Mating.] 1. To match; to marry. If she be mated with an equal husband. --Shak. 2. To match one's self against; to oppose as equal; to compete with. There is no passion in the mind of man so weak but it mates and masters the fear of death. --Bacon. I, . . . in the way of loyalty and truth, . . . Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mate Mate, v. i. To be or become a mate or mates, especially in sexual companionship; as, some birds mate for life; this bird will not mate with that one.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(mates, mating, mated) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. You can refer to someone's friends as their mates, especially when you are talking about a man and his male friends. (BRIT INFORMAL) He's off drinking with his mates... = pal N-COUNT: usu with poss 2. Some men use mate as a way of addressing other men when they are talking to them. (BRIT INFORMAL) Come on mate, things aren't that bad. = pal N-VOC 3. Someone's wife, husband, or sexual partner can be referred to as their mate. He has found his ideal mate. = partner N-COUNT: usu sing, oft poss N 4. An animal's mate is its sexual partner. The males guard their mates zealously. N-COUNT: usu poss N 5. When animals mate, a male and a female have sex in order to produce young. This allows the pair to mate properly and stops the hen staying in the nest-box... They want the males to mate with wild females... It is easy to tell when a female is ready to mate. ...the mating season. V-RECIP: pl-n V, V with n, V (non-recip), V-ing 6. On a commercial ship, the mate or the first mate is the most important officer except for the captain. Officers of lower rank are also called mates. ...the mate of a fishing trawler. N-COUNT 7. In chess, mate is the same as checkmate. 8. see also cellmate, classmate, flatmate, playmate, roommate, running mate, schoolmate, shipmate, soul mate

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Associate, companion, fellow, compeer, intimate. 2. Equal, match, suitable companion. 3. Assistant, subordinate. 4. Checkmate (chess). II. v. a. 1. Match, marry. 2. Equal, vie with, cope with, compete with. 3. Stupefy, confound, crush, appall, subdue, enervate.

Moby Thesaurus

OD, accompanier, accompanist, accompanyist, ace, acquaintance, ally, alter ego, amigo, analogon, analogue, associate, attendant, ball, be intimate, be made one, be spliced, become one, bedfellow, bedmate, better half, birthmate, boatswain, bosom buddy, bracket, breed, bride, brother, buddy, bunkie, bunkmate, butty, camarade, captain, chamberfellow, chap, chief engineer, chief mate, china, chum, classmate, close copy, close match, clubmate, co-worker, coequal, cognate, cohabit, cohort, colleague, comate, come together, commander, commit adultery, companion, companion piece, company, compeer, complement, comrade, concomitant, confidant, confrere, congenator, congener, conjugate, consociate, consort, contract matrimony, coordinate, copartner, copemate, copesmate, copulate, copy, correlate, correlative, correspondent, couchmate, counterpart, couple, couple up, cover, cradlemate, crony, crossbreed, cupmate, dead ringer, deck officer, diddle, ditto, double, double-harness, double-team, duplicate, effigy, equal, equipollent, equivalent, espouse, exact likeness, familiar, fellow, fellow student, fit together, fornicate, friend, frig, general partner, generate, get hitched, girl friend, gossip, have sex, have sexual relations, helpmate, helpmeet, hitch, hubby, husband, icon, idol, image, intermarry, interwed, intimate, jailmate, join, kindred spirit, lay, lie with, like, likeness, link up, living image, living picture, make it with, make love, make out, marry, master, match, messmate, miniature, mirroring, miscegenate, model, mount, naval officer, navigating officer, navigator, near duplicate, obverse, old crony, opposite number, pair, pair off, pal, parallel, pard, pardner, partner, patron, peer, pendant, pewmate, photograph, picture, pipes, playfellow, playmate, portrait, procreate, quartermaster, reciprocal, reflection, remarry, resemblance, rewed, rival, roommate, rubbing, sailing master, schoolfellow, schoolmate, screw, second mate, second self, secret partner, semblance, serve, service, shadow, shelfmate, shipmaster, shipmate, shopmate, side partner, sidekick, sidekicker, silent partner, similitude, simulacrum, sister, skipper, sleep with, sleeping partner, soul mate, span, special partner, spit and image, spitting image, splice, spouse, such, suchlike, synchronize, tablemate, take to wife, tally, team, team up, teammate, tentmate, the Old Man, the like of, the likes of, tie, trace, tracing, twin, unite, very image, very picture, watch officer, watchmate, waymate, wed, wife, wive, workfellow, yoke, yokefellow, yokemate