| 释义 |
▪ I. mate, n.1 Chess.|meɪt|
Forms: 4 mat, 5 maat, 5– mate.
[ME. mat, a. OF. mat in eschec mat checkmate n.]
The state of the king when he is in check and cannot move out of it (involving the loss of the game to the player whose king is so placed): = checkmate. Also, the move by which the king is checkmated. Often in figurative contexts, with the sense of ‘total defeat’. to give (the) mate (to): to checkmate. † to take the mate: to be checkmated.
c1330Arth. & Merl. 9346 (Kölbing) Naciens..& ek Herui .VI. heþen kinges driuen hardi..For to ȝeuen hem her mat. c1407Lydg. Reas. & Sens. 5903 Whan the play I-ended was..thus stood the cas Without a maat on outher syde. 1426Audelay Poems (Percy Soc.) 23 After chec for the roke ware for the mate. a1547Surrey To Ladie that scorned her Louer in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 21 Although I had a check, To geue the mate is hard. 1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 66 Sure I am at the next viewe of thy vertues, I shall take thee mate: And taking it not of a pawne but of a Prince, the losse is to be accompted the lesse. 1588Greene Pandosto (1843) 29 Fortune..began now to turne her back..intending as she had given Fawnia a slender checke, so she would give her a harder mate. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. iv. (1651) 275 It [chess] is a testy cholerick game, and very offensive to him that loseth the Mate. 1625Bacon Ess., Of Boldness (Arb.) 520 Like a Stale at Chesse, where it is no Mate, but yet the Game cannot stirre. 1626Middleton Women Beware Women ii. ii. 310, I give you check and mate to your white king. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xvi. (1739) 32 The Church-men or Prelates checked them often, but could never give them the mate. 1735Bertin Chess 73 The knight takes that pawn, and gives a check, and mate. Ibid. 75 The pawn takes the white knight and gives mate.
b. with defining word.
fool's mate: a form of game in which the first player, by two unwise moves, incurs checkmate at his adversary's second move. scholar's mate: a form of game in which the second player blunders so as to be mated by his adversary's fourth move. smothered mate (see quot. 1863). See also stalemate.
1529More Dyaloge i. Wks. 149/1 Mary quod he, this is a blind mate indede. 1614A. Saul Famous Game Chesse play viii, The Mate at two Draughts a Fooles Mate. Ibid. C iij, The Mate with a Quene, a louing mate, A Mate with the Bishop, a gentle mate [etc.]. 1859H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn vi, A simple trip, akin to scholar's mate at chess. 1863Handbk. Chess & Draughts 14 Smothered Mate. This is a description of mate which can be effected only by the knight, when the adverse king is surrounded, or smothered, by his own forces.
▪ II. mate, n.2|meɪt|
Also 5–7 mat, 6 maat; Sc. 6 meat, 6–7 mait.
[Late 14th c. mate, app. a. MLG. mate or MDu. *mate (mod.Du. maat, earlier maet), shortened form of gemate (Flemish gemaat) = OHG. gimaȥȥo (MHG. gemaȥȥe):—OTeut. type *gamaton- companion, lit. ‘mess-mate’, f. *ga- (see y-) implying conjunction or participation + *mat- (see meat). Cf. OE. gemętta (:—*gamatjon-), ME. mette, companion at table.]
1. a. A habitual companion, an associate, fellow, comrade; a fellow-worker or partner. Now only colloq. See also messmate, playmate, schoolmate.
c1380Sir Ferumb. 1372 Florippe..sayde: ‘Maumecet my mate y-blessed mot þou be For aled þow hast muche debate to-ward þys barnee’. c1440Promp. Parv. 329/2 Mate, idem quod Felaw. 1513Douglas æneis ii. xi. 83 Alkyne sterage affrayit and causit grow, Baith for my byrding and my litle mait. 1515Barclay Egloges i. (1570) A iij, When the good is gone (my mate this is the case) Seldome the better reentreth in the place. 1521MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., To John Kenet & hys mate, carpenters, for ij dayes. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 633 The Duke of Yorke and his mates were lodged within the Citie. 1583Leg. Bp. St. Androis 316 He sought ane vther, Ane devill..Exceading Circes in conceattis, For chaungene of Wlisses meatis. c1614Mure Dido & æneas i. 508 Parte at the ports, as sentinells abide, Vnloade their mat's and drowsie dron's do kill. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. i. i. 4 Aristobulus, though no Apostle, yet an Apostles Mate,..by Grecian Writers made Bishop of Britain. 1725Pope Odyss. ii. 365 Each in jovial mood his mate addrest. 1821Byron Sardan. ii. i. 48 The she-king, That less than woman, is even now upon The waters with his female mates. 1845C. Griffith Present State of Port Philip 79 Two [bushworkers] generally travel together, who are called mates; they are partners, and divide all their earnings. 1866Mrs. Gaskell Wives & Dau. xxii. (1867) 223 He was inferior in education to those who should have been his mates. 1878Jevons Prim. Pol. Econ. 32 Each man usually takes one part of the work, and leaves other parts of the work to his mates. 1885Mrs. C. Praed Head Station 64 I've sent my mate to prospect for a new claim. 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right 136 We have been firm friends and true mates all this time. 1901M. Franklin My Brilliant Career i. 3 Daddy's little mate isn't going to turn Turk like that, is she? 1908E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber i. v. 174 With a mate he had been for many months, bêche-de-mer fishing, their station.. a lonely islet in Whitsunday Passage. 1911C. E. W. Bean ‘Dreadnought’ of Darling xxxv. 311 Perhaps the strongest article in the out-back code is that of loyalty to a mate. 1942C. Barrett On Wallaby iv. 75, I told my mates some of these facts on returning. 1966Observer 17 Apr. 30/1 A 17-year-old boy..said, ‘I haven't got a real mate. That's what I need.’ 1968K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 109 Old Sam, born and reared in the bush, a good mate and bushman. 1973Parade (Melbourne) Sept. 34/1 An obelisk in the Jewish section of the Melbourne General Cemetery records the names of those who fought for Australia in the 1914 War. Many of them trained in the Faraday Street School cadets. They assimilated the lessons of patriotism and were great mates.
transf. and fig.1669Lybourn (title) A Platform for Purchasers, a Guide for Builders, and a Mate for Measurers. 1671Milton Samson 173 Thee whose strength, while vertue was her mate Might have subdu'd the Earth.
b. Used as a form of address by sailors, labourers, etc.
c1450Pilgr. Sea-Voy. 14 in Stac. Rome 38 ‘What, howe! mate, thow stondyst to ny, Thy felow may nat hale the by;’ Thus they begyn to crake. 1549Compl. Scot. vi. 41 The master cryit on the rudir man, mait keip ful and by, a luf. 1582Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 79 My maats skum the sea froth there in oars strong cherelye dipping. 1610B. Jonson Alch. ii. vi. How now! What mates? What Baiards ha'wee here? 1637Heywood Dialogues i. Wks. 1874 VI. 96 My Mate (It is a word That Sailors interchangeably afford To one another) speake. 1852R. Cecil Diary 31 Mar. (1935) 36 When the diggers address a policeman in uniform they always call him ‘Sir’, but they always address a fellow in a blue shirt with a carbine as ‘Mate’. ‘Mate’ is the ordinary popular form of allocution in these colonies. 1862A. Polehampton Kangaroo Land 99 A man, who greeted me after the fashion of the Bush, with a ‘Good day, mate’. 1869Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 554 Mates, I spoke just now. 1880M. E. Braddon Just as I am i, ‘Who's the magistrate hereabouts, mate?’ 1974Sydney Morning Herald 14 Feb. 7, I asked a station attendant (attired in a dirty open-necked shirt and trousers, recognizable only by a dirty cap) if the train was the North-West Mail. ‘I wouldn't have a clue, mate,’ was the reply.
†c. A fellow, ‘chap’; often used contemptuously. Obs.
a1380St. Bernard in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 56/2 He [sc. þe fend] made a mouwe, þat foule mate, And seide [etc.]. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 113 As for such mates, as vertue hates. 1577G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 57 Thou art a merry mate. 1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. vi. ii. (1886) 91 These witches are but lieng mates and couseners. 1612T. James Jesuits' Downf. 13 These Iesuits are cogging mates.
d. to go mates with: to be an associate or partner of. Also to be mates with.
1880Sutherland Tales of Goldfields 59 Brown lost no time in making a contract to ‘go mates’ with another digger. 1880H. Lapham in D. M. Davin N.Z. Short Stories (1953) 57 At this time I was mates with a young fellow called Jim Smith, a good enough lad as a mate, and would do just as big a day's labour as any man. 1890Gd. Words Mar. 211/1, I will accept his proposal to go mates with him.
e. (See quot. 1904 and cf. 4 b.)
1881H. & C. R. Smith Isle of Wight Words 21 Meyat, a mate; the carter's assistant. 1884J. C. Egerton Sussex Folk & Ways ii. 26 [A] carter-boy credited with the following..advice to his father, whose ‘mate’ he was. 1904Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 384 Mate, an assistant or subordinate who assists a more skilled workman. 1951Engineering 9 Mar. 296/3 It is claimed by the strikers that a new electrician's mate..should resign. 1963Times 9 Mar. 9/5 The Scottish chimney sweep..always has a mate.
2. A suitable associate († or adversary); an equal in eminence of dignity. Now only arch.
1563B. Googe Eglogs, etc. (Arb.) 126 No man so hauty lyues on earth, but ons may fynd his mate. 1577tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 123, I am a iealous God, enuious against my riuall..nor by any meanes abyding to haue a mate. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 828 Ye knew me once no mate For you, there sitting where ye durst not soare. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 229/2 Cardinals..now..are Mates for Kings. 1833Tennyson Lady Clara Vere de Vere 11, I know you proud to bear your name, Your pride is yet no mate for mine.
3. One of a pair. (Cf. make n.1)
a. One of a wedded pair, a husband or wife. Now only, a fitting or worthy partner in marriage. † Also (rarely), a lover, paramour.
1549Latimer 1st Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 34 For to graunt oure kynges grace suche a mate as maye knyt hys hert and heres [etc.]. 1573Harman Caveat (ed. 2) 41 This is their custome, that when they mete in barne at night, euery one getteth a mate [ed. 1 make] to lye wythall. 1593Shakes. Lucr. 18 What priselesse wealth the heauens had him lent, In the possession of his beauteous mate. 1615R. Brathwait Strappado 118 (A wanton Priest) there was Who made appointment with a Countrie lasse,..The place where these two louely mates should meet Was a vast forrest. 1676G. Towerson Decalogue 383 Lest..men should think it enough to assume a mate..without any obligation upon themselves. 1735Somerville Chase iii. 174 His good old mate With choicest Viands heaps the lib'ral Board. 1786F. Burney Diary Nov., I made a visit to Mrs. Smelt, and engaged her and her excellent mate to dinner. 1842Tennyson Dora 166 Mary took another mate; But Dora lived unmarried till her death. 1843Lytton Last of Barons ii. i, Isabel of Warwick had been a mate for William the Norman. 1894Besant In Deacons Orders etc. Peer & Heiress 111 Happy is the man who finds his mate!
b. Of animals, esp. birds: One of a pair.
1593Tell-Troth's N.Y. Gift (1876) 38 Nor fish, beast, foule, nor fruit, but takes the mate. 1611Bible Isa. xxxiv. 15 There shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. 1667Milton P.L. vii. 403 Shoales Of Fish..part single or with mate Graze the Sea weed thir pasture. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 89 Whether this proceeds from the desires of the frog, disappointed of its proper mate, or [etc.]. 1822Byron Heaven & Earth i. iii. 38 A doom which even some serpent, with his mate, Shall 'scape to save his kind to be prolong'd. 1871R. Ellis tr. Catullus lxviii. 122 Not in her own fond mate so turtle snowy delighteth.
c. Of things: The fellow of a pair; a counterpart or parallel.
1578Banister Hist. Man v. 71 Two Nerues..beyng the mates of those Arteries. 1611Bible Isa. xxxiv. 16 No one of these [sc. prophecies] shall faile, none shall want her mate. 1668Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. Man. iii. i. 323 Every Nerve hath its mate or Companion. 1892Kipling Barrack-room Ballads 81 ‘Ye have taken the one [a pistol] from a foe’, said he; ‘will ye take the mate from a friend?’ Mod. dial. These boots are not mates.
d. spec. A point on tramway lines which is cast solid and pairs or ‘mates’ with the movable tongue or switch on the other rail; an ‘open’ or ‘fixed’ point. orig. U.S.
1909in Webster. 1922Glasgow Herald 3 Oct. 8 The weight of the inserts varies from about 100 to 300 lb., depending on the angle of the crossing or mate.
4. Nautical uses.
a. An officer (now only on a merchant vessel) who sees to the execution of the commands of the master or commander, or of his immediate superior, and in the absence of the master takes command of the ship. In the Royal Navy the title has been changed to Sub-lieutenant; and in the merchant-sevice, mates hold functions not greatly inferior to those of lieutenants in the Royal Navy. Formerly called master's mate (see master n.1 2 d).
1496etc. [see master n.1 2 d]. 1595Trag. Sir R. Grinuile G ij, Th' other Maister, and the other Mat's, Disented from the honour of their minds. 1612Drayton Poly-olb. ii. 426 The danger quite forgot wherein they were of late; Who halfe so merrie now as Maister and his Mate? 1626Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 2 The Maister and his Mate is to direct the course, commaund all the Saylors, for steering, trimming, and sayling the Ship. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. ii. vi. 64 Some there are that will not understand,..yet (to my knowledge) are Mates to good Ships. 1748Smollett Rod. Rand. xvi, The stranger..informed me that he himself had passed for third mate of a third-rate, about four months ago. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) X. 644/2 A first-rate man of war has six mates. 1835Sir J. Ross Narr. 2nd Voy. ii. 23 After some interchange of significant looks and whisperings between the mates and the men [etc.]. 1903W. H. Gray Div. Shepherd iii. 42 An old scholar, who was first mate on board a ship when a mutiny broke out.
b. An assistant to some functionary on board ship, esp. to a warrant-officer of the navy, as in boatswain's mate, carpenter's mate, cook's mate, gunner's mate, sail-maker's mate, etc., for which see the first words.
1610Shakes. Temp. ii. ii. 49 The Gunner, and his Mate. 1702Royal Declar. 1 June in Lond. Gaz. No. 3815/2 Carpenters Mates, Boatswains Mates, Gunners Mates,..Quartermasters Mates. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. ii, The cook's mate of the ship. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. ix. 226 One of the sail-makers mates was fishing. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Mates, on board a ship, are assistants to the several officers; as master's Mates,..corporal's Mates. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Mate generally implies adjunct or assistant.
c. In the navy, an officer who assists the surgeon, usually called surgeon's mate (see surgeon); in the army, an assistant who acts as dispenser and dresser. See also hospital mate, s.v. hospital n. 6.
1612Woodall (title) The Surgeons Mate or Military & Domestique Surgery. 1758J. S. Le Dran's Observ. Surg. (1771) 163 He was dressed..by the Mate of the Regiment. 1783F. Michaelis in Med. Commun. I. 308 The medicines were..given by the mates of the hospital. 1806Med. Jrnl. XV. 88 Medical Mates [in the Military Medical Department].—These are gentlemen who are supposed to be acquainted with the compounding of medicines. 1811Self Instructor 577 The surgeon..is allowed a mate to assist him.
d. U.S. Navy. ‘An officer of the navy, next below a warrant-officer, who is not in the line of promotion’ (Funk's Stand. Dict. 1895).
1890in Century Dict.
5. attrib. and Comb., as mate boat, mate fellow, mate-hunting; mate fish, a whale with calf.
1756Rhode Isl. Col. Rec. (1860) V. 543 [He] represented unto this Assembly, that there is a ferry set up at the Long Wharf, in the town of Newport, which hath no *mate boat.
1887Hall Caine Deemster xxxix, If he had found me a cheerier *mate-fellow, I doubt not we should have had some cheerful hours together.
1725Dudley in Phil. Trans. XXXIII. 261 Care is taken by those who kill these *Mate Fish..only to fasten the Calf, but not to kill her, till they have first secured the Cow.
1837T. Hook Jack Brag vi, The system of *mate-hunting through the medium of the newspapers.
▪ III. † mate, a. Obs.
Also 3 matt, 3–5 mat, (4 mete), 4–5 maat, 5 maate, matte; Sc. 5 maytt, 5–7 mait, 6 mayt.
[a. OF. mat mated at chess, confounded, exhausted, dull (mod.F. mat indecl., mated, mat, fem. mate, dull, whence mat a.) = med.L. mattus ‘tristis’ (Gloss. Paris, 10th c.), Pr. mat, Sp., Pg. mate dull, faded, It. matto dull, foolish. From OF. are MHG. mat (G. matt), MDu., Du. mat, Sw. matt, Da. mat. The Rom. word is a. Pers. māt at a loss, helpless (used in shāh māt ‘the king is helpless’, checkmate).
Gildemeister, Dozy, and other modern scholars, dispute the customary view that the Persian word is a. Arab. māt ‘he has died’.]
1. Mated at chess.
1370Robt. Cicyle 184 Wiþ o drauȝt he was chekmat [H. mate]. c1407Lydg. Reas. & Sens. 10, I..Was of a Fers so Fortunat In-to a corner dryve and maat. a1500MS. Ashmole 344 (Bodl.) lf. 16 b, The blake kyng shalbe mate at v draughtes. Ibid. 18 b, Then art thou mate wt hys pon. a1600Montgomerie Misc. P. xx. 20 That nou thair is no nek, Nor draught to mak debate, Bot let it brist or brek; For love must haif it mait.
2. Overcome, vanquished, worsted, confounded.
a1225Leg. Kath. 2015 Maxence & alle hise halden ham mate. a1225Ancr. R. 382 And ȝif eni mon ei swuch þing ortroweð bi him, he is more mat þen þe þeof inumen mid þeofðe. a1300Cursor M. 10041 Pride..es ouercummen, and mad al matt. c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 837 O Golias..Hou myghte Dauid make thee so maat. c1450Merlin viii. 125 And so was Claudas made pore and maat. 1513Douglas æneis iv. Prol. 253 Dido..In hir faynte lust so mait, within schort quhile, That honestie [etc.].
3. Exhausted, worn out, dead tired, faint.
a1300Cursor M. 15875 Mate and weri war þai þan. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1568 He was so mat, he myȝt no more renne. 1420–2Lydg. Thebes ii. in Chaucer's Wks. (1561) 366 b, Tideus of bledyng was wonder feint Mate and wearie, and in greate distresse. 1490Caxton Eneydos ii. 15 Hir vysage mate by frequente sources of grete teeris. 1536Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) I. 66 Mony of Gillus folkis, wery and mate.
4. Dejected, downcast, discouraged, sorrowful.
13..Guy Warw. (A.) 597 He ferd as he were mat, Adoun he fel aswoune wiþ þat. c1350Will. Palerne 1776 Whanne he his felawes founde of his fare þei wondred, whi he was in þat wise wexen so maat. 1375Barbour Bruce xvii. 794 With mate cher the assalt thai left. 1390Gower Conf. III. 7 Riht so mi lust is overthrowe, And of myn oghne thoght so mat I wexe. c1460Towneley Myst. xix. 245 That sorowfull sight shall make hir maytt. 1560Rolland Crt. Venus ii. 314 In all my dayis was I not half sa mayt [rime words dissimulat, fortunait, debait].
▪ IV. mate, v.1|meɪt|
Forms: 3 maten, 3–5 mat, 5 maat(e, (mat(t)yn), 6 Sc. mayt, mait, 4– mate.
[a. OF. mater, f. mat mate a.]
1. trans. (Chess.) To checkmate. Also absol. Sometimes in fig. context or allusively.
c1320Sir Tristr. 315 ‘Child, what wiltow lay?’ ‘Oȝain an hauke of noble air Tventi schillinges, to say Wheþer so mates oþer fair Bere hem boþe oway’. c1440Promp. Parv. 329/2 Matyn at the chesse (MS. S., P. mattyn), mato. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon 478 Playe well, my childe, for ye shall be mated. a1533Ld. Berners Huon xxxvi. 113 He sawe a .M. men plaing at the chesse & a nother .M. that had played & been matyd. 1563B. Googe Egloges viii. (Arb.) 66 With costly clothes..Who then dare gyue me checke? Garments som time, so gard a knaue, that he dare mate a Knyght. 1581G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 34 b, Suffering a Gentlewoman to mate him at Chests. a1618Sylvester Mem. Mortalitie viii. Wks. (Grosart) II. 223 The Chess-boord..Where pawns and kings have equal portion: This leaps, that limps, this checks, that necks, that mates. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xviii. (1652) 465 Tame Traytours all! that could behold an Usurper, Mate and Check your lawfull Emperour, and neither wag hand or tongue in opposition. 1646Earl of Monmouth tr. Biondi's Civil Warres ii. 79 All the above-named were like so many paunes at Chesse, which advancing too rashly, were lost; whilst the great men..endeavouring to mate [orig. scaccheggiando] the King, met with the like fortune. 1864Field 2 July 3/2 White to play, and mate in 3 moves. 1865Merivale Rom. Emp. VIII. lxiii. 13 Nerva had mated his assailants; but his own game was now nearly played out. 1886Daily News 19 July 3/1 Pollock was mated at the 46th move.
†b. intr. To undergo checkmate, be mated. Obs.
1423Jas. I Kingis Q. clxviii. Help now my game, that is in poynt to mate. a1585Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 216 For vnder cure I gat sik chek, Quhilk I micht nocht remuif nor nek, Bot eyther stail or mait.
†2. trans. To overcome, defeat, subdue. Obs.
a1225Ancr. R. 98 O none wise ne muwe ȝe betere sauuen ou suluen, ant maten, & ouercumen him betere. c1320Cast. Love 830 Prude..al matyd and overcome wes Thorgh bucsomnesse that sheo ches. c1450Mirour Saluacioun 3281 The qwene of heven hym matid with hire sons passionne. c1500Melusine 216 Your noble cheualrye & puyssaunce haue not only mated me & made lasse myn honour, but also [etc.]. c1590Marlowe Faust. Chorus 2 Not marching now in fields of Thracimene, Where Mars did mate the Carthaginians.
transf.1625Bacon Ess., Death (Arb.) 385 There is no passion in the minde of man, so weake, but it Mates, and Masters, the Feare of Death.
¶b. App. used for: To destroy; to kill.
a1300Cursor M. 21041 Þat Imperur wend him [John] to mat; In a tun was welland hat Fild of oyle he did him schott. c1400Destr. Troy 9532 Fyve hundrith fully of þere fyne shippes, [hade ben] Consumet..And mony mo were þere marred, & mated with fire.
†3. To nonplus, baffle, render powerless (a person); to render nugatory (a design). Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 8479 Was na clerc sa crafti kend,..þat moght þe clerc wit clerge mat Þat cuth þe bokes þat he wrat. 1529More Dyaloge i. Wks. 148/2 In what point quod he, hath that mated you? 1596Danett tr. Comines (1614) 277 They [wisdom and good government] might easily haue mated his enterprise in Italie. 1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. vii. xii. 262 They mated the Saxons in all their designes. 1623Fletcher Rule a Wife iii. i, He stood up to me, And mated my commands! 1626Bacon Sylva §902 Wee see Audacitie doth almost binde and mate the Weaker Sort of Minds. 1642Chas. I Mess. to Ho. Comm., & Answ. 8 Which then would have mated and weakned the Conspirators in the beginning. 1670Cotton Espernon i. ii. 65 By whose assistance he thought with less difficulty to mate the ambitious Designs of the League.
†4. To put out of countenance; to render helpless by terror, shame, or discouragement; to daunt, abash; to stupefy. Obs.
c1416Hoccleve Min. Poems xv. 23 Lat nat the strook of indigence vs mate. 1586Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. i. i, How now, my Lord? what, mated and amazed To heare the king thus thr[e]aten like himselfe? 1597Lyly Woman in Moone iv. i. 157 O bury all thy anger in this kisse, And mate me not with vttering my offence. 1605Shakes. Macb. v. i. 86 My minde she ha's mated, and amaz'd my sight, I thinke, but dare not speake. 1632Sir R. Le Grys tr. Velleius Paterc. 211 The army..being mated with his comming, his vigor and his glory rendred it selfe to him. 1636Davenant Witts v. i, Your Wine mates them, they understand it not. 1646Earl of Monmouth tr. Biondi's Civil Warres v. 101 This and some other losses had rather madded them then mated [orig. sbigottiti] the English. 1651N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. xxvi. (1739) 116 The Dutchess of Burgundy..mated him with Phantoms and Apparitions of dead Bodies of the House of York. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Mate,..to amaze or astonish, to daunt, dash, or put out of countenance. 1827Hallam Const. Hist. x. (1854) III. 275 Twenty years of depression and continual failure mated the spirits of the cavaliers.
†5. To exhaust, weary; to cause to be weary or tired out; to dull or weaken (passion). Obs.
a1400–50Alexander 1270 Mased & matid of þaire strenthes. 1489Caxton Faytes of A. i. xxiv. 77 The fyfthe that they be not mated nor traueylled nor made the more feble for honger. 1513Douglas æneis ix. x. 37 Our chyldir ȝyng..Wyld deyr throu out the woddis chais and mayt [L. Venatu invigilant pueri silvasque fatigant]. a1693Urquhart's Rabelais iii. xxxi. 258 The Ardour of Lechery is very much subdued and mated by frequent Labour.
▪ V. mate, v.2|meɪt|
[f. mate n.2]
1. a. trans. To equal, rival; to vie or cope with; to be a match for.
1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xliii. (Percy Soc.) 212 Infinite I am, nothing can me mate. 1580Ord. of Prayer in Liturg. Serv. Q. Eliz. (1847) 573 The Boy mateth the man of aged gravity. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 274 My euer Roiall Master, Dare mate a sounder man then Surrie can be. 1690Child Disc. Trade (1698) 74 Nor ever did we greatly prosper upon it [our trade to East-India], till our interest was much abated by laws, nor ever shall mate the Dutch in it, till our interest be as low as theirs. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 371 They [the Waves] mate the middle Region with their height. 1718Pope Iliad xiii. 414 In standing fight he mates Achilles' force. 1814Scott Ld. of Isles i. xii, In speed His galley mates the flying steed. 1874Swinburne Bothwell i. i. 4, I might sleep well and laugh and walk at ease, With none to mate me. 1891W. Morris Poems by Way 129 Fig-tree. I who am little among trees In honey-making mate the bees.
b. intr. To claim equality with. arch.
1692Vind. Carol. iii. 40 When the safety of the Nation was at stake, [they] insolently contend, nay mate it with their Sovereign. 1702Rowe Tamerl. i. ii. 678 Thou..hast dar'd To lift thy wretched self above the Stars And mate with Power Almighty. 1884Tennyson Becket i. iii, If Canterbury bring his cross to court, Let York bear his to mate with Canterbury.
2. a. trans. To match; to marry; to join in marriage; to take or give in marriage.
1607Shakes. Timon i. i. 140 How shall she be endowed, If she be mated with an equall Husband? 1842Tennyson Locksley Hall 47 Thou art mated with a clown. 1843Lytton Last Bar. ii. iii, I fear that the king will be teased into mating my sister with the Count of Charolois. 1862Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) V. xl. 57 The females of ingenuous birth were not numerous enough to mate them.
refl.1884W. C. Smith Kildrostan 55 I'd sooner mate me with A cloud,..Or wed a polar bear.
b. intr. for refl.
1589Warner Alb. Eng. vi. xxxi. (1612) 154 The gayest Females mate With Loutes as soon as Lordes. 1838Lytton Leila i. iii, Permission were easier given to thee to wed the wild tiger, than to mate with the loftiest noble of Morisca. 1862Whittier Amy Wentw. 149 Oh, rank is good, and gold is fair, And high and low mate ill. 1895A. C. Fox-Davies Armorial Fam. p. xx, In England men mate with whom they will.
3. a. trans. To pair (animals, esp. birds) for the purpose of breeding. Also with up.
1601Shakes. All's Well i. i. 102 The hind that would be mated by the Lion Must die for loue. 1859Darwin Orig. Spec. i. (1873) 30 Pigeons can be mated for life. 1885Truth 28 May 836/1 Two of her Majesty's cows have been sent to Herefordshire to be mated with the famous bull, Lord Wilton. 1899Feathered World 10 Mar. 477 The birds had been previously mated up.
transf.1882‘Ouida’ Maremma I. 165 ‘One does not mate a trailing weed with a young oak’, she said.
b. intr. Of animals, esp. birds: To pair.
1870,1903[see mating ppl. a.]. 1877Burroughs Birds & Poets (1895) 103 These birds do not mate.
4. trans. To join suitably with; to associate, couple, treat as comparable with. Also, † to provide with what is suitable.
1593Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 909 Her more than hast is mated with delayes. 1626J. Haig Let. in J. Russell Haigs (1881) 178, I pray you..write to my Colonel..desiring him..to mate me in clothes if you be not able. 1669Dryden & Davenant Tempest i. i, And on a night, mated to his design, Antonio ope'd the gates of Milan. 1703Rowe Ulyss. i. i. 52 'Twou'd make Comparison..monstrous seem, as if to mate A Mole-Hill with Olympus. 1891J. Winsor Columbus ii. 54 None knew this better than those, like Las Casas, who mated their faith with charity of act.
5. a. intr. To consort, keep company with.
a1832‘Barry Cornwall’ The Owl 5 Not a bird of the forest e'er mates with him. 1871B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. i. ii. 11 The judge, debarred from punishment, Mates with the felon ere he endeth. 1881Besant & Rice Chapl. of Fleet I. 160 It was a shame that a gentleman of his rank should mate with men whose proper place was among the thieves of Turnmill Street.
b. trans. To accompany suitably.
1870Morris Earthly Par. I. i. 369 How sweet it would be, could I hear, Soft music mate the drowsy afternoon.
6. a. intr. Of an engineering part: to make a good or proper fit with.
1909in Webster. 1956S. Parker Drawings & Dimensions vii. 52 When considering the application of ‘Go’ and ‘Not Go’ gauges..the questions ‘Will like mate with like?’ and ‘How much force may be used when gauging?’ inevitably arise. 1959Motor Manual (ed. 36) v. 132 The end of the axle hub is threaded and extends outside the wheel to take a large eared nut, which is coned internally to mate with a cone on the edge of the wheel hub. 1967Electronics 6 Mar. 15/3 (Advt.), Push-pull coupling mates easily.
b. trans. To fit or join with or to.
1959Nat. Geographic Feb. 159/1 High on skeletal service towers, we watched engineers mate, or couple, rocket stages and gingerly install the payloads containing custom-built miniaturized instruments. 1962V. Grissom in Into Orbit 119 On 1 July the capsule was taken from the hangar..to be mated to the Redstone. 1970N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon iii. 55 By mid-May it was time to ‘mate’ the electrical systems of the rocket boosters with those of the spacecraft.
Add:[3.] [b.] spec. To copulate (with another animal). Also transf. (Later examples.)
1922D. H. Lawrence England, my England 8 Dark, like a lair where strong beasts had lurked and mated. 1924W. B. Yeats Heart Replies in Dial June 501 Let the cage bird and the cage bird mate and the wild bird mate in the wild. 1968A. Storr Human Aggression iii. 24 A snake who has been vanquished by a rival will crawl away and remain sexually inactive for some weeks, whereas his triumphant adversary will, on achieving victory, immediately mate. 1976T. Hooper Guide to Bees & Honey i. ii. 45 The drone's only function as far as we know is mating with the young queen. 1986D. Madden Hidden Symptoms (1988) 18 How strange and arbitrary it all seemed to be, people marrying, mating and mixing sexes. 1995Time Out 9 Aug. 16/1 Even the potentially edifying sex education classes were spent teaching us how amoebas mate. ‘Well, that's very useful in Birmingham,’ comes the monumentally deadpan reply.
▪ VI. mate
obs. form of meat.
▪ VII. mate(e
see maty. |