COMPANION

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does companion mean? 

• COMPANION (noun)
  The noun COMPANION has 3 senses:

1. a friend who is frequently in the company of another

2. a traveler who accompanies you

3. one paid to accompany or assist or live with another

  Familiarity information: COMPANION used as a noun is uncommon.

• COMPANION (verb)
  The verb COMPANION has 1 sense:

1. be a companion to somebody

  Familiarity information: COMPANION used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COMPANION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A friend who is frequently in the company of another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

associate; companion; comrade; familiar; fellow

Context example:

comrades in arms

Hypernyms ("companion" is a kind of...):

friend (a person you know well and regard with affection and trust)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "companion"):

date; escort (a participant in a date)

playfellow; playmate (a companion at play)

tovarich; tovarisch (a comrade (especially in Russian communism))

Derivation:

companion (be a companion to somebody)

companionship (the state of being with someone)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A traveler who accompanies you

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

companion; fellow traveler; fellow traveller

Hypernyms ("companion" is a kind of...):

traveler; traveller (a person who changes location)

Derivation:

companion (be a companion to somebody)

companionship (the state of being with someone)

Sense 3

Meaning:

One paid to accompany or assist or live with another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("companion" is a kind of...):

attendant; attender; tender (someone who waits on or tends to or attends to the needs of another)

Derivation:

companion (be a companion to somebody)

• COMPANION (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they companion    ... he / she / it companions   
Past simple: companioned   
Past participle: companioned   
-ing form: companioning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be a companion to somebody

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

accompany; companion; company; keep company

Hypernyms (to "companion" is one way to...):

affiliate; associate; assort; consort (keep company with; hang out with)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

companion (one paid to accompany or assist or live with another)

companion (a friend who is frequently in the company of another)

companion (a traveler who accompanies you)

 Context examples 

You propose, replied I, to fly from the habitations of man, to dwell in those wilds where the beasts of the field will be your only companions.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

By the roadside were many crosses, and as we swept by, my companions all crossed themselves.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I looked to my companion for enlightenment.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

“To give Annie pleasure, by making some provision for the companion of her childhood. Nothing else.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Thank you," said Messner. Then, turning to her companion, "By the way, Doctor, what is your name, if I may ask?"

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

And suddenly there came something to remind me of my absent companions.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He stood where he was, resting lightly on his crutch, watching his companion like a snake about to spring.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I find you lonely: I will be your companion—to read to you, to walk with you, to sit with you, to wait on you, to be eyes and hands to you.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Weedon Scott looked across at his companion with eyes that almost pleaded, though this was given the lie by his words.

(White Fang, by Jack London)