Word.ws English Dictionary

match

/mæt͡ʃ/

match noun: any contest or trial of strength or skill, or to determine superiority.

match: any contest or trial of strength or skill, or to determine superiority
Image: Heidas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

match (plural matches)

  1. Any contest or trial of strength or skill, or to determine superiority.
    • Ferrer his Taberd vvith rich Verry ſpred, / VVell knovvne in many a vvarlike match before; […]1605, Michaell Draiton [i.e., Michael Drayton], “The Second Booke of the Barrons Warres”, in Poems: […], London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] Ling, →OCLC, stanza 22, page 31
    • A solemn match was made; he lost the prize.1697, Virgil, “(please specify the page)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
    1. A competitive sporting event such as a boxing meet, a baseball game, or a cricket match.
      • My local team are playing in a match against their arch-rivals today.
      • Can you play billiards? / Yes, do you wish to have a match with me? / Let us simply play (a game) for pleasure. We needn't have a match, as I don't like to gamble.1886, Lim Hiong Seng, Handbook of the Swatow Vernacular, Singapore: Koh Yew Hean Press
  2. Equality of conditions in contest or competition.
    • It were no match, your nail against his horn.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
  3. A pair of items or entities with mutually suitable characteristics.
    • The carpet and curtains are a match.
    • a match made in heaven
    1. Someone with a measure of an attribute equaling or exceeding the object of comparison.
      • He knew he had met his match.
      • Government […] makes an innocent man, though of the lowest rank, a match for the mightiest of his fellow subjects.1716 February 9 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 12. Sunday, January 30. [1716.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […]...
    2. Equivalence; a state of correspondence; a counterpart.
      • The seat to window match is excellent and there are half-size partition screens between bays.2019 October 23, Pip Dunn, “The next king of Scotland”, in Rail, page 51
    3. An agreement or compact.
      • Thy hand upon that match.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
      • [I]t hath been obſerv'd, that Love doth ſeldome ſuffer it ſelf to be confin'd by other matches, then thoſe of its ovvne making.1648 August 16 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Robert Boyle, Some Motives and Incentives to the Love of God. […] [Seraphick Love], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], published 1659, →OCLC, page 6
    4. A marriage.
    5. A candidate for matrimony; one to be gained in marriage.
      • She […] was looked upon as the richest match of the West.1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed...
  4. Suitability.
  5. A perforated board, block of plaster, hardened sand, etc., in which a pattern is partly embedded when a mould is made, for giving shape to the surfaces of separation between the parts of the mould.

Verb

match (third-person singular simple present matches, present participle matching, simple past and past participle matched)

  1. (intransitive) To agree; to be equal; to correspond.
    • Their interests didn't match, so it took a long time to agree what to do together.
    • These two copies are supposed to be identical, but they don't match.
    Synonyms:
    comport
  2. (transitive) To agree with; to be equal to; to correspond to.
    • His interests didn't match her interests.
    • There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans...
  3. (transitive) To equal or exceed in achievement.
    • She matched him at every turn: anything he could do, she could do as well or better.
  4. (transitive) To make a successful match or pairing.
    • They found out about his color-blindness when he couldn't match socks properly.
    • Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.2013 June 1, “End of the peer show”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 71
  5. (obsolete) To unite in marriage, to mate.
    • […]Adam's sons are my brethren; and truly, I hold it a sin to match in my kindred.1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • A senator of Rome survived,
      Would not have matched his daughter with a king.1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act V, scene i, page 62
  6. To fit together, or make suitable for fitting together; specifically, to furnish with a tongue and groove at the edges.
    • to match boards
  7. (transitive) To be an example of a rule or regex.
    • The behavior matched one or more rules and was rejected by an edit filter.

Noun (2)

match (plural matches)

  1. A small wooden stick specially treated with chemicals to produce flame upon contact with another chemical, from the frictional heat produced by striking it against a surface, or both; other similar items made from chemically-treated paper, cardboard, etc.
    • He struck a match and lit his pipe.
    Synonyms:
    light, lucifer, spunk
  2. (obsolete) Synonym of taper, a thin stick used to transfer flame, as from tender to a candle.
    Synonyms:
    taper
  3. (obsolete) Synonym of fuse, a long wick used to transfer flame to an explosive device.
    Synonyms:
    fuse

match meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

match in Hindi

sporting event
मैच maic
device to make fire
माचिस mācis, दियासलाई diyāslāī

match in Tamil

device to make fire
தீக்குச்சி tīkkucci

match in Marathi

match, confrontation
सामना sāmnā
to match, harmonise
जमवणे jamavṇe
to match
जुळवणे juḷavṇe, जमणे jamṇe

match in Urdu

sporting event
مَیچ maic, مُسابَقَہ musābaqa
device to make fire
دِیا سَلائی diyā salāī, کِبْرِیت kibrīt, ماچِس mācis
More languagesFewer languages
match in Bengali
ম্যাচ mêc, দেশলাই deslai
match in Telugu
అగ్గిపుల్ల aggipulla
match in Malayalam
പൊരുത്തപ്പെടുക poruttappeṭuka, ചേരുക cēruka, ഇണങ്ങുക iṇaṅṅuka, ഇണക്കം iṇakkaṁ
match in Kannada
ಸರಿಜೋಡಿ, ಸಮದಂಡಿ, ಸರಿಸಾಟಿ, ಓರಿಗೆ
match in Punjabi
ਰਿਸ਼ਤਾ riśtā, رلنا ralṇā
match in Gujarati
રમત ramat
match in Odia
ମ୍ଯ଼ାଚ୍, ମେଳ, ମେଳ ଖାଆନ୍ତି
match in Sanskrit
आजि ājí
match in Assamese
খেল khel
match in Nepali
म्याच, मिलान गर्न
match in Pashto
ګوګرد gogǝrd, تيلی telay, ماچس māčas, ګوګړ gogǝṛ
match in Tagalog
posporo
match in Arabic
مُبَارَاة mubārāh, شَحّاطَة šaḥḥāṭa, شَخَّاطَة šaḵḵāṭa, كِبْرِيت kibrīt
match in Malay
perlawanan, mancis, macis, korek api
match in Indonesian
pertandingan, korek api
match in Thai
การแข่ง gaan-kɛ̀ng, ไม้ขีดไฟ mái-kìit-fai, ไม้ขีด mái-kìit
match in Vietnamese
trận đấu, trận cầu, diêm
match in Myanmar
ပြိုင်ပွဲ pruingpwai:, မီးခြစ် mi:hkrac

Examples of match in a sentence

  • It will be basic with fares to match, so will be akin to a budget airline taking on a flag-carrier.2021 June 30, Philip Haigh, “Regional trains squeezed as ECML congestion heads north”, in RAIL, number 934, page 52:
  • He came into the drawing room resplendent in his gold-and-white turban. […] His cummerbund matched the turban in gold lines.1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings:

All 40 example sentences with match

Synonyms of match

7 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of match

Forms of match

Noun
pluralmatches
Verb
third-person singular presentmatches
present participlematching
past participlematched
pastmatched

Past tense of match: matched

Plural of match: matches

Origin of match

From Middle English macche, mecche, from Old English mæċċa, ġemæċċa (“companion, mate, wife, one suited to another”), from Proto-West Germanic *makkjō, *gamakkjō (“partner, equal”), from Proto-Germanic *makô, from Proto-Indo-European *mag- (“to knead, work”). Compare Danish mage (“mate”), Icelandic maki (“spouse”).

From Middle English macchen (“to marry; be paired with”), from the noun (see above).

From Middle English macche, mecche (“wick (of a candle)”), from Old French mesche, meische, from Vulgar Latin micca (compare Catalan metxa, Spanish mecha, Italian miccia), which in turn is probably from Latin myxa (“nozzle, curved part of a lamp”), from Ancient Greek μύξα (múxa, “lamp wick”).

Words formed from match

Phrases with match

65 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with match

16 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about match

What does match mean?
Match means any contest or trial of strength or skill, or to determine superiority.
What is match in Hindi?
Match in Hindi is मैच (maic), माचिस (mācis), दियासलाई (diyāslāī). See Match meaning in Hindi.
How do you use match in a sentence?
It will be basic with fares to match, so will be akin to a budget airline taking on a flag-carrier.
What part of speech is match?
Match can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce match?
Match is pronounced /mæt͡ʃ/.
What is the plural of match?
The plural of match is matches.

Words near match in the dictionary

  1. matbar
  2. matbars
  3. matboard
  4. matboards
  5. matbucha
  6. match
  7. match ball
  8. match balls
  9. match beat for beat
  10. match cut
  11. match cuts

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: match (page history and authors); जमणे (Marathi) (page history and authors); ഇണക്കം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); match (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); رلنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); match (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); आजि (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); খেল (Assamese) (page history and authors); match (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-match.ogg, en-us-match.ogg.

Cite this entry: “match.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/match. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.