mother

mother

I. moth‧er¹ S1 W1 /ˈmʌðə $ -ər/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[Word Family: noun: mother, motherhood, mothering; adjective: motherly, motherless; verb: mother]
[Language: Old English; Origin: modor]
1. a 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 somebody to care for someone as if you were their mother:
She’s like a mother to them. If they need anything she always helps out.
3. like a mother hen if someone behaves like a mother hen, they try to protect their children too much and worry about them all the time
4. learn/be taught something at your mother’s knee to learn something when you are a very young child:
the prayers which he had been taught at his mother’s knee
5. the mother of something
a) the origin or cause of something:
Westminster is known as ‘the mother of parliaments’.
Necessity is the mother of invention (=people have good ideas when the situation makes it necessary).
b) informal a very severe or extreme type of something, usually something bad:
I woke up with the mother of all hangovers.
6. spoken especially American English something very large and usually very good:
a real mother of a car
7. American English taboo spoken ↑motherfucker
8. Mother
used to address the woman who is in charge of a ↑convent
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ mother a female parent: My mother and father are both teachers.
▪ mum British English informal, mom American English informal used when talking to your father, or about someone's father: My 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 children: Where’s Mummy, Abbie?
▪ ma American English old-fashioned used when talking to your mother, or about someone's mother: Ma stirred the soup on the stove.
▪ mama old-fashioned used when talking to your mother, or about someone's mother: Mama 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 parent: the wicked stepmother in fairy stories
II. mother² BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[Word Family: noun: mother, motherhood, mothering; adjective: motherly, motherless; verb: mother]
to 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!