match

MACH/mæt͡ʃ/

Pluralmatches

Verbmatches, matching, matched

15 meanings of match

Practice

1
contestnouncountable
A contest or trial of strength or skill between opponents, held to determine who is superior.
Thousands of fans packed the stadium for the football match.
She won the tennis match in straight sets.
UsageOften in compounds such as a tennis match or a chess match; you play, win or lose a match.
Similarcontest, battle, bout, duel, clash
Note
Beyond the sporting fixture, the word covers any trial of strength or skill. Michael Drayton's The Barons' Wars describes heraldry well known "in many a warlike match," and Dryden's Virgil (1697) reports that "a solemn match was made; he lost the prize." Battle and game both fit, which is why figurative contests such as a match of wills come so easily.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
A match can end in a draw; it need not produce a winner. theifab.com
Michael Drayton wrote The Barons' Wars. upload.wikimedia.org
The passage describes Ferrer's tabard and heraldic display as well known in warlike matches. The quoted words are accurate in modernized spelling. upload.wikimedia.org
Dryden's translation of Virgil was first published in 1697. en.wikisource.org
Dryden's Virgil contains the quoted sentence; Damœtas speaks it in Pastoral III. gutenberg.org
2
verbtransitive
To be the same as or correspond to something, or to agree or go well together, as in 'the accounts match' or 'her shoes match her bag'.
The witness's account matched the security footage in every detail.
The name on your ticket must match your passport exactly.
Similarcorrespond, agree, fit, tally
Oppositediffer, clash, contradict
Note
Marie Belloc Lowndes's The Lodger (1913) has a drugget that matched the flock-paper in color; F. E. Penny's Pulling the Strings has a cummerbund that matched the turban in gold lines.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Marie Belloc Lowndes wrote The Lodger. gutenberg.org
The Lodger was first published as a novel in 1913. en.wikipedia.org
The Lodger describes a drugget matching the flock-paper in colour. gutenberg.org
F. E. Penny's Pulling the Strings describes a cummerbund matching a turban in gold lines. en.wiktionary.org
3
fire sticknouncountable
A short stick of wood or cardboard tipped with a chemical that ignites from friction when struck against a rough, dry surface.
He cupped his hands around the match to shield the flame from the wind.
A single match was enough to set the dry brush ablaze.
UsageYou strike or light a match; you buy them in a box of matches.
Similarmatchstick
Note
In Middle English a macche was the wick of a candle, the thing that carries a flame, and the name passed to the stick you strike.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Middle English macche could mean a candle wick. en.wiktionary.org
The earlier name for a wick or flame-carrying cord later became the name for friction matches. en.wikipedia.org
4
pair upverbtransitive
To bring two people, things, or sides together into a successful pairing.
The dating app matches users based on shared interests and values.
A skilled sommelier can match each course with the right wine.
UsageUsually match one thing with or to another, often in the passive: applicants are matched with jobs.
Similarpair, partner, couple, team
Note
Here someone does the pairing. The Economist in 2013 describes peer-to-peer lending, where "those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The Economist described peer-to-peer lending in 2013. en.wiktionary.org
The quoted wording appears in that description of peer-to-peer lending. en.wiktionary.org
5
be as goodverbtransitive
To equal someone or something else in a particular quality or achievement.
Few modern sprinters can match the times he set in the 1980s.
The sequel never quite matched the success of the original film.
UsageOften with can or could, frequently in the negative: no one could match his record.
Similarequal, rival, beat
6
nouncountable
A person or thing that suits or fits well with another, or the degree to which they suit each other.
The oak desk and the leather chair made a handsome match.
In terms of temperament, the two dogs were a poor match.
UsageUsually a good, perfect or poor match; a match made in heaven is said mostly of couples.
Similarfit, pair, pairing, combination
Oppositemismatch
7
nouncountable
The condition of being equivalent or in correspondence, where one thing answers exactly to another.
Investigators reported a clear match between the sample and the suspect's profile.
The software searches the database for a match to each entry.
UsageSay a match between two things, or a match for or to one; also a DNA match.
Similarcorrespondence, agreement
Oppositemismatch, discrepancy
Note
Pip Dunn, writing in Rail in 2019, praises an excellent "seat to window match" in a train's layout, meaning the seats line up with the windows. The noun names the correspondence itself, so a match can be good, poor or exact.
8
nouncountable
A marriage, or a person regarded as a suitable partner to marry.
With his fortune and title, he was the most eligible match in the county.
Her mother hoped she would find a suitable match before long.
UsageOften a good match or a suitable match for someone.
Similarcatch, partner, marriage
9
computingverbtransitive
To fit or satisfy a rule or pattern, as a string of text does when it follows a regular expression.
The input string matches the regular expression for valid email addresses.
Patterns like '\d+' match any sequence of digits.
Similarsatisfy, fit
Note
A programmer's verb that runs both ways: a string matches a regular expression, a pattern matches a string, and an action matches a filter rule. In filters, matching is the trigger: the behavior matched a rule and was rejected. When nothing fits, the result is "no match," the noun from the correspondence sense.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
Either direction is possible: a string matches a regular expression, and a regular expression matches a string. docs.python.org

Less common meanings

10
worthy rivalnouncountable
A person whose ability or strength equals or surpasses that of another in a given respect.
She met her match when the new debater took the stage.
For sheer stubbornness, the toddler was more than a match for both parents.
UsageSet frames: meet your match, be no match for someone, be more than a match for someone.
Similarequal, rival, peer
Note
Addison in 1716 credits government with making an innocent man "a match for the mightiest of his fellow subjects," and Boys' Life (1991) finds most adults no match for a boy at chess.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
The Addison passage was published in 1716, in The Free-holder, No. 12. en.wiktionary.org
Addison credits government with making an innocent man a match for the mightiest of his fellow subjects. en.wiktionary.org
Boys' Life in 1991 describes most adults as no match for a boy at chess. en.wiktionary.org
11
equal chancesnouncountable
Equality of conditions between the sides taking part in a contest or competition.
Identical bikes for every rider make for an equal match, so only skill decides the race.
Golf handicaps exist to turn a round between a beginner and an expert into a fair match.
Oppositemismatch
Note
Here the equality belongs to the contest, not to the contestants. Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida has "It were no match, your nail against his horn": it would be no fair fight, rather than no worthy rival.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
William Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida contains this exact quotation, spoken by Ulysses in Act 4, scene 5. folger.edu
The quotation illustrates equality of conditions in a contest, supporting the explanation of an unequal fight rather than an unworthy opponent. en.wiktionary.org
12
join boardsverbtransitive
To fit pieces together, or shape them for fitting; especially, to cut a tongue and groove along their edges so they join.
Skilled joiners match the boards so no gaps show in the finished floor.
The carpenter matched the pine boards, cutting a tongue on one edge and a groove on the other.
Similarfit, join
13
nounobsoletecountable
An agreement or compact settled between parties, binding them to its terms.
Thy hand upon that match.
c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”
[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, Robert Boyle, Some Motives and Incentives to the Love of God. [Seraphick Love]
Similaragreement, compact, pact, deal, accord
Note
A bargain, struck and sealed. In Troilus and Cressida, Shakespeare's "Thy hand upon that match" asks for the handshake that closes a deal. Robert Boyle, writing in 1648, plays on the overlap with marriage when he says love will seldom be confined "by other matches, then those of its owne making." The word means compacts and unions at once.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida contains this exact quotation, spoken by Hector to Achilles in Act 4, scene 5; the context supports a handshake confirming their agreement. shakespeare.mit.edu
Robert Boyle wrote the work in 1648. This is its composition date; first publication was in 1659. en.wikipedia.org
Boyle's passage contains the quoted wording, with long s and typographic double-v normalized. en.wiktionary.org
The quotation supports the compact sense alongside the evident reference to unions made by love; the marriage overlap is a reasonable textual interpretation. en.wiktionary.org
14
verbobsolete
To unite two people in marriage, or to pair them as mates.
A senator of Rome survived, Would not have matched his daughter with a king.
1712, [Joseph] Addison, Cato
Note
In Addison's Cato (1713), a senator "would not have matched his daughter with a king," and the father is the one who does the matching. Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing uses it without an object: it is called a sin "to match in my kindred," meaning to marry within one's own family.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Addison wrote Cato, first published in 1713. gutenberg.ca
Cato speaks the quoted words about a senator marrying his daughter to a king; the father is the grammatical agent. The quotation modernizes the original contractions. upload.wikimedia.org
Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing contains this quotation, spoken by Beatrice, with match used intransitively to mean marry within one's family. gutenberg.org
15
noun
A perforated board or block of plaster or hardened sand that partly holds a pattern when a mold is made, shaping the surfaces where the mold's parts separate.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of match apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1, 6–8, 10–11, 13

Old English mæċċa or ġemæċċa, meaning a "mate, companion, wife, one suited to another," became Middle English macche. The line runs back through Proto-West Germanic and Proto-Germanic, perhaps to *mag- ("to knead, work") in Proto-Indo-European. Danish mage ("mate") and Icelandic maki ("spouse") are related.

Meanings 2, 4–5, 9, 12, 14

This verb was formed from the noun. In Middle English it was macchen, meaning "to marry" or "to be paired with."

Meaning 3

The Middle English word macche ("wick of a candle") came from Old French mesche, which goes back to Vulgar Latin micca (compare Spanish mecha, Italian miccia). That form is probably from myxa, a Latin word for a "nozzle, curved part of a lamp," which came in turn from the Ancient Greek μύξα (múxa), "lamp wick."