1. An artist of consummate skill
   "one of the old masters"; "a master of the violin";
   - maestro
    
2. A person who has general authority over others
   "The feudal master demanded loyalty from his vassals";
   - overlord, lord
    
3. Someone who directs the work of others
   "The master of the household managed all the servants"
    
4. An authority qualified to teach apprentices
   "The master carpenter took on several apprentices to pass on his craft";
   - professional
    
5. Presiding officer of a school
   "The master addressed the students at the beginning of the academic year";
   - headmaster [Brit], schoolmaster
    
6. Someone who holds a master's degree from academic institution
   "She became a master of fine arts after completing her thesis exhibition"
    
7. An officer who is licensed to command a merchant ship
   "The sea master navigated through the storm with skill and experience";
   - captain, sea captain, skipper
    
8. A combatant who is able to defeat rivals
   "He proved himself a master in the martial arts tournament";
   - victor, superior
    
9. An original creation (i.e., an audio recording) from which copies can be made
   "The studio kept the master copy of the album in a secure vault";
   - master copy, original
    
10. A key that opens many locks, typically all the locks in a building
    "The superintendent carried a master key for all apartments in the complex";
    - passkey, passe-partout, master key

1. Be or become completely proficient or skilled in
   "She mastered Japanese in less than two years";
   - get the hang of
    
2. Have a firm understanding or knowledge of; be on top of
   "She had mastered three languages by age twenty";
   - control
    
3. Get on top of; deal with successfully
   "He mastered his shyness";
   - overcome, get over, subdue, surmount
    
4. Have dominance or the power to defeat over
   "Her pain completely mastered her"; "The methods can master the problems";
   - dominate

1. Most important element
   "the master bedroom"; "a master switch";
   - chief, main, primary, principal

Derived forms: masters, mastering, mastered

See also: important, of import

Type of: adult male, artist, authority, battler, beat, beat out, belligerent, bozo [N. Amer, informal], cat [N. Amer, informal], chappie [Brit, informal], combatant, command, control, creation, creative person, crush, employer, fighter, geezer [Brit, informal], guy [informal], head, head teacher [Brit], hombre [N. Amer, informal], key, know, man, officer, principal, ruler, scholar, scholarly person, school principal, scrapper, shell [US], ship's officer, sod [informal], trounce, vanquish

Encyclopedia: Master, Richard