FIRST MATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does first mate mean? 

• FIRST MATE (noun)
  The noun FIRST MATE has 1 sense:

1. the officer below the master on a commercial ship

  Familiarity information: FIRST MATE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FIRST MATE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The officer below the master on a commercial ship

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

first mate; mate

Hypernyms ("first mate" is a kind of...):

officer; ship's officer (a person authorized to serve in a position of authority on a vessel)

 Context examples 

I was first mate, I was, old Flint's first mate, and I'm the on'y one as knows the place.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

There only remained the first mate, who was a bold and active man.

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

My first mate’s berth on the sealing grounds stood me in good stead, and I cleared the inner cove and laid a long tack along the shore of the outer cove.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

First mate angry; said it was folly, and to yield to such foolish ideas would demoralise the men; said he would engage to keep them out of trouble with a handspike.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)