1. A pair of people who are married to each other or are in a romantic relationship
   "The mates decided to buy a house together";
   - couple, match

1. A fellow member of a team
   "it was his first start against his former mates";
   - teammate
    
2. [Brit, informal] A person you know well and regard with affection and trust
   "he was my best mate at the university";
   - friend, china [Brit, informal]
    
3. [informal] A person's partner in marriage
   "They celebrated their anniversary as devoted mates";
   - spouse, partner, married person, better half [informal], other half [Brit, informal]
    
4. The partner of an animal (especially a sexual partner)
   "he loved the mare and all her mates"; "camels hate leaving their mates"
    
5. An exact duplicate
   "when a mate is found an entry is made in the notebook";
   - match
    
6. One of a pair
   "he lost the mate to his shoe";
   - fellow
    
7. [informal] An informal and friendly term of address to a stranger
   "Excuse me, mate, could you tell me the time?";
   - buddy [informal]
    
8. The officer below the master on a commercial ship
   "As first mate, she was responsible for overseeing the deck crew";
   - first mate
    
9. A chess move constituting an inescapable and indefensible attack on the opponent's king
   "He called out 'mate!' as he made the final move";
   - checkmate

1. Engage in sexual intercourse
   "Birds mate in the spring";
   - copulate, pair, couple
    
2. Bring two objects, ideas, or people together
   "The designer mated complementary colours in the pattern";
   - match, couple, pair, twin
    
3. (chess) place an opponent's king under an attack from which it cannot escape and thus ending the game
   "Kasparov mated his opponent after only a few moves";
   - checkmate

Type of: actor, animal, animate being, associate, beat, beat out, chess move, conjoin [formal], crush, doer, domestic partner, duplicate, duplication, family, family unit, flesh and blood, join, officer, relation, relative, shell [US], ship's officer, significant other, singleton, spousal equivalent, spouse equivalent, trounce, vanquish, worker

Part of: brace, couple, couplet, duad, duet, duo, dyad, man and wife, marriage, married couple, pair, span, twain, twosome, yoke

Encyclopedia: Mates, Dates and Sleepover Secrets