mates Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a pair of people who live together
    couple; match.
    • a married couple from Chicago
  2. noun the officer below the master on a commercial ship
    first mate; mate.
  3. noun a fellow member of a team
    mate; teammate.
    • it was his first start against his former teammates
  4. noun the partner of an animal (especially a sexual partner)
    mate.
    • he loved the mare and all her mates
    • camels hate leaving their mates
  5. noun a person's partner in marriage
    partner; married person; spouse; mate; better half.
  6. noun an exact duplicate
    mate; match.
    • when a match is found an entry is made in the notebook
  7. noun one of a pair
    mate; fellow.
    • he lost the mate to his shoe
    • one eye was blue but its fellow was brown
  8. noun South American holly; leaves used in making a drink like tea
    Ilex paraguariensis; mate; Paraguay tea.
  9. noun informal term for a friend of the same sex
    mate.
  10. noun South American tea-like drink made from leaves of a South American holly called mate
    mate.
  11. noun a chess move constituting an inescapable and indefensible attack on the opponent's king
    mate; checkmate.
  12. verb engage in sexual intercourse
    pair; couple; mate; copulate.
    • Birds mate in the Spring
  13. verb bring two objects, ideas, or people together
    pair; couple; mate; twin; match.
    • 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
  14. verb place an opponent's king under an attack from which it cannot escape and thus ending the game
    mate; checkmate.
    • Kasparov checkmated his opponent after only a few moves
  15. verb twist together or entwine into a confusing mass
    entangle; snarl; tangle; mat.
    • The child entangled the cord
  16. verb change texture so as to become matted and felt-like
    mat up; mat; matte up; felt; matt-up; matte; felt up.
    • The fabric felted up after several washes

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