- mate
- [[t]me͟ɪt[/t]]
♦♦♦mates, mating, mated1) N-COUNT: usu with poss 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...
A mate of mine used to play soccer for Liverpool.
Syn:2) N-VOC 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.
Syn:3) N-COUNT: usu sing, oft poss N Someone's wife, husband, or sexual partner can be referred to as their mate.He has found his ideal mate.
...as women do become as powerful in the marketplace as their mates.
Syn:4) N-COUNT: usu poss N An animal's mate is its sexual partner.The males guard their mates zealously.
5) V-RECIP When animals mate, a male and a female have sex in order to produce young.[pl-n V] This allows the pair to mate properly and stops the hen staying in the nest-box...
[V with n] They want the males to mate with wild females...
[V (non-recip)] It is easy to tell when a female is ready to mate.
[V-ing] ...the mating season.
6) N-COUNT 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.
7) N-COUNT In the United States Navy, a mate is a petty officer who has a particular set of skills and who assists a warrant officer.8) N-UNCOUNT In chess, mate is the same as checkmate.9) → See also , classmate, , playmate, , running mate, , shipmate, soul mate
English dictionary. 2008.
