Overview of noun mate

The noun mate has 10 senses

• mate, first mate -- (the officer below the master on a commercial ship)


• teammate, mate -- (a fellow member of a team; "it was his first start against his former teammates")


• mate -- (the partner of an animal (especially a sexual partner); "he loved the mare and all her mates"; "camels hate leaving their mates")


• spouse, partner, married person, mate, better half -- (a person's partner in marriage)


• match, mate -- (an exact duplicate; "when a match is found an entry is made in the notebook")


• mate, fellow -- (one of a pair; "he lost the mate to his shoe"; "one eye was blue but its fellow was brown")


• mate, Paraguay tea, Ilex paraguariensis -- (South American holly; leaves used in making a drink like tea)


• mate -- (informal term for a friend of the same sex)


• mate -- (South American tea-like drink made from leaves of a South American holly called mate)


• checkmate, mate -- (a chess move constituting an inescapable and indefensible attack on the opponent's king)

Overview of verb mate

The verb mate has 3 senses

• copulate, mate, pair, couple -- (engage in sexual intercourse; "Birds mate in the Spring")


• match, mate, couple, pair, twin -- (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")


• checkmate, mate -- (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")