Pronunciations (5)
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/meɪt/
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[meɪt]
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
- US
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[mɛjt]
Pronunciation notes
- British
- Southern
- Standard
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[meːt]
Pronunciation notes
- Canada
- Scotland
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[mæɪt]
Pronunciation notes
- Australia
Noun
A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.
- Synonyms
- Examples
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A "mate" was a "mate" - share and share alike, no matter how bad might be the times, or how long a spell of ill luck had attended them.
A breeding partner.
Usage- especially
- of a non-human animal
- Examples
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More examples (1)
Such overt displays of avowed sexual prowess – or at least, desperate availability – are not limited to the countryside. Even in the city, birds and animals and stockbrokers and nurses find ways of signalling their suitability as a mate.
A friend, usually of the same sex.
Usage- Australia
- Ireland
- New-Zealand
- South-Africa
- UK usage
- Colloquial
- Examples
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I'm going to the pub with a few mates.
He's my best mate.
Friendly term of address to a stranger, usually male, of similar age.
Usage- Australia
- Ireland
- New-Zealand
- South-Africa
- UK usage
- Colloquial
- Synonyms
- Examples
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Excuse me, mate, have you got the time?
In naval ranks, a non-commissioned officer or his subordinate (e.g. Boatswain's Mate, Gunner's Mate, Sailmaker's Mate, etc).
A ship's officer, subordinate to the master on a commercial ship.
A first mate.
A technical assistant in certain trades (e.g. gasfitter's mate, plumber's mate); sometimes an apprentice.
The other member of a matched pair of objects.
- Examples
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I found one of the socks I wanted to wear, but I couldn't find its mate.
A suitable companion; a match; an equal.
- Examples
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Ye knew me once no mate / For you; there sitting where you durst not soar.
Verb
To match, fit together without space between.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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The pieces of the puzzle mate perfectly.
To copulate.
Usage- Intransitive
- Synonyms
- Examples
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More examples (1)
“In fact, the apes live with us, and have for many ages. We call them the first men—we speak their language quite as much as we do our own; only in the rituals of the temple do we make any attempt to retain our mother tongue. In time it will be forgotten, and we will speak only the language of the apes; in time we will no longer banish those of our people who mate with apes, and so in time we shall descend to the very beasts from which ages ago our progenitors may have sprung.”
To pair in order to raise offspring.
Usage- Intransitive
To arrange in matched pairs.
Usage- Transitive
To introduce (animals) together for the purpose of breeding.
Usage- Transitive
To copulate with.
Usage- Transitive
- of an animal
To marry; to match (a person).
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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If she be mated with an equal husband.
To match oneself against; to oppose as equal; to compete with.
Usage- Obsolete
- Transitive
- Examples
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There is no passion in the mind of man so weak but it mates and masters the fear of death.
I, […] in the way of loyalty and truth, […] / Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be.
To fit (objects) together without space between.
Usage- Transitive
To come together as companions, comrades, partners, etc.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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More examples (1)
Indeed, some cases of devotion that were met with were quite touching; and very often to all appearances the pairs were not always mated from the same class of society.
To move (a space shuttle orbiter) onto the back of an aircraft that can carry it.
Usage- Transitive
- Antonyms
Verb
To confuse; to confound.
Usage- Obsolete
- Examples
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I think you are all mated, or stark mad.
Noun
The abovementioned plant; the leaves and shoots used for the tea
Noun
the officer below the master on a commercial ship
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
a fellow member of a team
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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it was his first start against his former teammates
the partner of an animal (especially a sexual partner)
- Examples
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he loved the mare and all her mates
camels hate leaving their mates
a person's partner in marriage
an exact duplicate
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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when a match is found an entry is made in the notebook
one of a pair
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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he lost the mate to his shoe
one eye was blue but its fellow was brown
South American holly; leaves used in making a drink like tea
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
informal term for a friend of the same sex
- Broader terms
South American tea-like drink made from leaves of a South American holly called mate
a chess move constituting an inescapable and indefensible attack on the opponent's king
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
Verb
engage in sexual intercourse
- Examples
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Birds mate in the spring
bring two objects, ideas, or people together
- Broader terms
- Examples
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This fact is coupled to the other one
Matchmaker, can you match my daughter with a nice young man?
More examples (1)
The student was paired with a partner for collaboration on the project
place an opponent's king under an attack from which it cannot escape and thus ending the game
- Synonyms
- Examples
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Kasparov checkmated his opponent after only a few moves