MOTHER | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of mother in English mothernoun uk /ˈmʌð.ər/ us /ˈmʌð.ɚ/

mother noun (PARENT)

Add to word list Add to word list A1 [ C ] a female parent: My mother was 21 when she got married.mothers and fathers All the mothers and fathers had been invited to the end-of-term concert. The little kittens and their mother were all curled up asleep in the same basket. [ as form of address ] formal or old-fashioned May I borrow your car, Mother? See also biological mother birth motherCompare father grandmother parent noun (MOTHER/FATHER) stepmother your parents

• parentMy parents died when I was young.
• biological parentSome children are raised by grandparents or other family members, instead of their biological parents.
• adoptive parentWhen he was 7 months old, his mother gave him up to his adoptive parents.
• motherHave you met my mother?
• fatherMy father fully supports my life choices.
• mumUK My mum and dad go there every year.

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• My mother smiled encouragingly at me as I went up on stage.
• His mother's death when he was aged six had a very profound effect on him.
• Like many mothers, she feels torn between her family and her work.
• The supermarket was full of harassed-looking mothers with young children.
• All the mothers and fathers had been invited to the end-of-term concert.

Family: relations in general

• anti-family
• aunt
• auntie
• baby daddy
• baby mama
• family life
• family man
• family of something
• father
• father complex
• kinfolk
• kinship
• kinship network
• kinship term
• kinsman
• relationally
• relationship
• relative
• removed
• second cousin

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mother noun (RELIGIOUS WOMAN)

[ C ] (also Mother) the title of a woman who is in charge of, or who has a high rank within, a convent (= house of religious women): Mother Theresamother superior She is our convent's mother superior. [ as form of address ] Good morning, Mother. Religious titles

• beadle
• brother
• eminence
• father
• Fr.
• grace
• lama
• metropolitan
• Monsignor
• Msgr
• pandit
• pope
• rev
• Reverend
• S, s
• saint
• st
• swami
• the Very Reverend
• Vicar of Christ

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Religious people: monks & nuns

mother noun (FOR FOOD)

[ C or U ] (also mother dough) a mixture used for making sourdough bread, consisting of flour and water that has been allowed to ferment (= to undergo a chemical process of being broken down by bacteria or yeasts) and has been kept from a previous occasion when bread was made: Head baker Saci made his mother nearly twenty years ago. He shows them how to mix older mother dough with fresh new dough for the perfect balance of flavour. [ C or U ] a substance used for making any food or drink that is fermented (= that undergoes a chemical process of being broken down by bacteria or yeasts), that is kept from a previous occasion when the food or drink was made : The kefir mother grows slowly from batch to batch. Here's how to grow a kombucha mother. Organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar also contains "mother", strands of proteins, enzymes and friendly bacteria that give the product a murky appearance. Flour & yeast

• all-purpose flour
• baker's yeast
• besan
• blue corn
• cassava
• flour
• flourless
• floury
• gluten
• graham flour
• nooch
• nutritional yeast
• oatmeal
• patent flour
• pinole
• stoneground
• unbolted
• wheatmeal
• wholegrain
• wholemeal

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Idioms

at your mother's knee the mother of something the mother of all something motherverb [ T ]   often disapproving uk /ˈmʌð.ər/ us /ˈmʌð.ɚ/ to treat a person with great kindness and love and to try to protect them from anything dangerous or difficult: Stop mothering her - she's 40 years old and can take care of herself. Defending and protecting

• air defence
• anti-bug
• anti-mosquito
• baby
• bandobast
• duck and cover idiom
• elbow
• elbows up idiom
• embedded
• featherbedding
• fight back phrasal verb
• inoculate
• insulate
• mount
• re-secure
• ring-fence
• safeguard
• sea defence
• security camera
• smother

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Treating someone well (Definition of mother from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

mother | American Dictionary

mothernoun us /ˈmʌð·ər/

mother noun (PARENT)

Add to word list Add to word list [ C ] a female parent: My mother was 20 when I was born. Mother, where’s my red blouse?

mother noun (EXTREME THING)

[ U ] the largest or most extreme example of something: They got caught in a mother of a storm. motherverb [ T ] us /ˈmʌð·ər/

mother verb [T] (PARENT)

to treat someone with kindness and affection and try to protect that person from danger or difficulty: Leave me alone – I don’t need to be mothered. (Definition of mother from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press) What is the pronunciation of mother?

Translations of mother

in Chinese (Traditional) 雙親之一, 母親, 媽媽… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 双亲之一, 母亲, 妈妈… See more in Spanish madre, masa madre, madre [feminine… See more in Portuguese mãe, mãe [feminine]… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian आई… See more （私の）母, お母さん, お母さん（子供が母親に呼びかけるときに使う ‘‘mom’’ ‘‘mum’’ より硬い）… See more anne, ana, Ana… See more mère [feminine], mère, Mère… See more mare… See more moeder, moeder-overste, bemoederen… See more ஒரு பெண் பெற்றோர்… See more माँ… See more માં… See more mor, -mor, abbedisse… See more moder, mor, abbedissa… See more ibu, pemimpin biarawati, mengambil berat seperti ibu… See more die Mutter, Mutter-…, Mutter… See more mor [masculine], mor, abbedisse… See more ماں… See more мати, ігуменя, ставитися по-материнському… See more తల్లిదండ్రులలో ఆడ వ్యక్తి లేదా తల్లి… See more মা, জননী… See more matka, mateřský, matka představená… See more ibu, Pemimpin Biarawati, merawat… See more แม่, คุณแม่อธิการ, เลี้ยงดู… See more mẹ, Mẹ (tôn giáo), chăm sóc… See more matka, mama, matka przełożona… See more 어머니… See more madre, usato per rivolgersi alla madre in modo più formale di “mum” o “mom”, mamma… See more Need a translator?

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moth-eaten mothball mothballed mothballing mother mother country mother figure Mother Nature mother ship {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of mother

• Mother Nature
• Mother's Day
• den mother
• mother ship
• birth mother
• earth mother
• mother country

See all meanings

• lone parent/mother/father phrase
• someone's natural mother/father/parent phrase
• the mother of something idiom
• the mother of all something idiom
• at your mother's knee idiom
• brother from another mother idiom
• necessity is the mother of invention idiom

See all idioms and phrases

Word of the Day

quit on someone

UK /kwɪt/ US /kwɪt/

to stop supporting or being friends with someone, especially when they need your support

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• English   
  • Noun 
    • mother (PARENT)
    • mother (RELIGIOUS WOMAN)
    • mother (FOR FOOD)
  Verb
• American   
  • Noun 
    • mother (PARENT)
    • mother (EXTREME THING)
  • Verb 
    • mother (PARENT)

• Translations
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