mother

Word family (noun) mother motherhood mothering (adjective) motherly motherless (verb) mother

From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmothermoth‧er1 /ˈmʌðə $ -ər/ S1 W1 noun [countable] 1 MOTHERa female parent of a child or animal His mother and father are both doctors.mother of two/three etc (=mother of two/three etc children) Janet is a full-time teacher and a mother of two. the relationship between mother and child Goodnight, Mother. Mother said they’d met at university. If food is scarce, the mother will feed the smaller, weaker chicks.mother cat/bird/hen etc (=an animal that is a mother) 2 → be (like) a mother to somebody3 → like a mother hen4 → learn/be taught something at your mother’s knee5 → the mother of something6 spoken especially American EnglishBIG something very large and usually very good a real mother of a car 7 American English taboo spokenINSULTDON'T LIKE motherfucker8 → MotherTHESAURUSmother a female parentMy mother and father are both teachers.mum British English informal, mom American English informal used when talking to your father, or about someone’s fatherMy mum and dad won’t mind if you want to stay the night.Mom, where’s my sweater?mummy British English, mommy American English a name for mother, which is used especially by young children or when you are talking to young childrenWhere’s Mummy, Abbie?ma American English old-fashioned used when talking to your mother, or about someone’s motherMa stirred the soup on the stove.mama old-fashioned used when talking to your mother, or about someone’s motherMama seldom disagreed with Papa.stepmother (also stepmum British English informal, stepmom American English informal) a woman who is married to your father, who is not your mother but often acts as your parentthe wicked stepmother in fairy stories Examples from the Corpusmother• Mother just loved crossword puzzles.• a mother hen and her chicks• Like most mothers, I always feel anxious when my children come home late.• My mother and father are both teachers.• My mother says I have to be home by 9 o'clock.• The 29-year-old mother of two was attacked while walking her dog in woods near her home.• a real mother of a car• As a single mother, Linda relies on state benefits which are nowhere near enough.MotherMotherRRCused to address the woman who is in charge of a convent → mothermothermother2 verb [transitive] MOTHERto look after and protect someone as if you were their mother, especially by being too kind and doing everything for them I don’t like being mothered!→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpusmother• But why discuss mothering alone in a book about redefining motherhood?• Brenda just tries to mother everyone.• A new kind of mothering exists between these two extremes, at the locus of self.• In such societies girls learn mothering from their earliest years, usually by mothering their brothers and sisters.Origin mother1 Old English modor

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Word of the day meddle to deliberately try to influence or change a situation that does not concern you, or that you do not understand

Verb table

mother

Simple Form
Present
I, you, we, they	mother
he, she, it	mothers
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Past
I, you, he, she, it, we, they	mothered
Present perfect
I, you, we, they	have mothered
he, she, it	has mothered
Past perfect
I, you, he, she, it, we, they	had mothered
Future
I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will mother
Future perfect
I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will have mothered
> View Less

Continuous Form
Present
I	am mothering
he, she, it	is mothering
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you, we, they	are mothering
Past
I, he, she, it	was mothering
you, we, they	were mothering
Present perfect
I, you, we, they	have been mothering
he, she, it	has been mothering
Past perfect
I, you, he, she, it, we, they	had been mothering
Future
I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will be mothering
Future perfect
I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will have been mothering
> View Less