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match

Pronunciation: /mæt͡ʃ/

The English word “match” has 20 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. Any contest or trial of strength or skill, or to determine superiority.
  2. A competitive sporting event such as a boxing meet, a baseball game, or a cricket match.
  3. Equality of conditions in contest or competition.
  4. A pair of items or entities with mutually suitable characteristics.
  5. Someone with a measure of an attribute equaling or exceeding the object of comparison.
  6. Equivalence; a state of correspondence; a counterpart.
  7. An agreement or compact.
  8. A marriage.
  9. A candidate for matrimony; one to be gained in marriage.
  10. Suitability.
  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.
  12. 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.
  13. Synonym of taper, a thin stick used to transfer flame, as from tender to a candle.

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.

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”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.