English Explanatory Dictionary

match

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A competitive sporting event such as a boxing meet (commonly called a "bout"), a baseball game, or a cricket match.
  2. Any contest or trial of strength or skill, or to determine superiority.
  3. Someone with a measure of an attribute equaling or exceeding the object of comparison.
  4. A marriage.
  5. A candidate for matrimony; one to be gained in marriage.
  6. Suitability.
  7. Equivalence; a state of correspondence.
  8. Equality of conditions in contest or competition.
  9. A pair of items or entities with mutually suitable characteristics.
  10. An agreement or compact.
  11. A perforated board, block of plaster, hardened sand, etc., in which a pattern is partly embedded when a mould is made, for giving shape to the surfaces of separation between the parts of the mould.
verb
  1. To agree; to be equal; to correspond.
  2. To agree with; to be equal to; to correspond to.
  3. To equal or exceed in achievement.
  4. To make a successful match or pairing.
  5. To unite in marriage, to mate.
  6. To fit together, or make suitable for fitting together; specifically, to furnish with a tongue and groove at the edges.
  7. To be an example of a rule or regex.
noun
  1. A small wooden stick specially treated with chemicals to produce flame upon contact with another chemical, from the frictional heat produced by striking it against a surface, or both; other similar items made from chemically-treated paper, cardboard, etc.
  2. Synonym of taper, a thin stick used to transfer flame, as from tender to a candle.
  3. Synonym of fuse, a long wick used to transfer flame to an explosive device.

Pronunciation

/mæt͡ʃ/ en-uk-match.ogg en-us-match.ogg

Word forms

match matches matching matched

Etymology

From Middle English macche, mecche, from Old English mæċċa, ġemæċċa (“companion, mate, wife, one suited to another”), from Proto-West Germanic *makkjō, *gamakkjō (“partner, equal”), from Proto-Germanic *makô, from Proto-Indo-European *mag- (“to knead, work”). Compare Danish mage (“mate”), Icelandic maki (“spouse”).

Synonyms

comport light lucifer spunk taper fuse

Antonyms

differ

Related words

competition game set tournament mate fire light lighter cigarette lighter strike

Derived words

aftermatch beer match be no match for cage match cockmatch deathmatch exhibition match first class match football match friendly match game, set, match grudge match hair match hatch, match and dispatch intermatch ladder match looksmatch love match man of the match match ball matchboard matchbreaker match cut match day match dissolve match factor match fixing matchgate matchless matchlike match made in heaven match made in hell matchmake matchmaker matchmaking matchmark match moving match penalty match play matchplay matchplayer match point matchpot match race match racing match referee match wagon matchweek matchwinner matchwinning meet one's match midmatch mirror match mismatch needle match nonmatch odds match one-day match overmatch parlor match
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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