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# mate

«mate» in Mova's school dictionary: **A friend: «He's my mate»** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a mate, mates); verb (mate, mates, mated, mating)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (UK, Australia, NZ, Ireland, informal) A friend: «He's my mate». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mate/#m1)

2) A person you share something with, as in «classmate», «teammate», «flatmate». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mate/#m2)

3) The partner of an animal, with which it has babies. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mate/#m3)

4) (verb) Of animals: to come together to make babies. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mate/#m4)

5) An officer on a ship («first mate»). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mate/#m5)

6) In chess, short for «checkmate». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mate/#m6)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday British and Australian speech «mate» is a friendly word, often to say hello or thanks: «Cheers, mate!». In science lessons about life cycles: animals find a mate in spring, birds sing to attract a mate. In stories: «the first mate» on a pirate ship. In chess «mate» ends the game.

### examples

- I'm going to the park with my mates. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mate/#x1)
- Thanks, mate! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mate/#x2)
- Jamie is my best mate. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mate/#x3)
- My teammates cheered when I scored. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mate/#x4)
- Birds sing to attract a mate. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mate/#x5)
- Penguins often stay with the same mate for years. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mate/#x6)
- The captain gave orders to the first mate. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mate/#x7)
- White moved the queen and said «mate». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mate/#x8)
- I met my mates in the morning, a broken, scattered band. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mate/#x9)

### note

Countable: a mate, mates. «Mate» as «friend» is informal and common in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand; Americans more often say «buddy» or «pal». It is in many compounds: classmate, playmate, roommate, shipmate.

### In the corpora

- [At bedtime Mum explains he had an awful week at work, and Dad comes up and says, "Sorry, mate.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/36-big-feelings-in-big-people/4/)
- [Vivid example: in Wellington, your big brother is about to screenshot his mate's private message and send it to the group.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/50-rumours-about-classmates-and-secrets/3/)
- [Dad pauses it: "They filmed about a hundred hours this week, mate.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/54-reality-tv-what-is-staged-and-what-is-real/5/)
- [That is still copying, the way repainting your mate's bike doesn't make it your bike.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/11-school-rules-honesty-and-wrong-accusations/1/)
- [Each building solves a problem: keeping cool, keeping eggs away from snakes, or winning a mate.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/243-animal-builders-termite-mounds-weaver-birds-and-other-nest-makers/4/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «mate» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mate/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.