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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
first mate
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Here then the first mate and the captain are diametrically opposed.
▪ It was like a shipwreck, where the resourceful child passenger becomes the first mate.
▪ She must be mated again, and the first mate has to guard her or risk his groundwork going to benefit another.
▪ Starbuck and Ahab almost communicate with each other as the first mate pleads with Ahab to repudiate this vengeful mission.
▪ The captain read the funeral service and the first mate raised the plank and tipped the small bundle into the water.
▪ This, his first mate, is known as the primary female.
▪ Three times he watched his first mate get blown to bits.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
First mate

First \First\ (f[~e]rst), a. [OE. first, furst, AS. fyrst; akin to Icel. fyrstr, Sw. & Dan. f["o]rste, OHG. furist, G. f["u]rst prince; a superlatiye form of E. for, fore. See For, Fore, and cf. Formeer, Foremost.]

  1. Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest; as, the first day of a month; the first year of a reign.

  2. Foremost; in front of, or in advance of, all others.

  3. Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest; as, Demosthenes was the first orator of Greece. At first blush. See under Blush. At first hand, from the first or original source; without the intervention of any agent. It is the intention of the person to reveal it at first hand, by way of mouth, to yourself. --Dickens. First coat (Plastering), the solid foundation of coarse stuff, on which the rest is placed; it is thick, and crossed with lines, so as to give a bond for the next coat. First day, Sunday; -- so called by the Friends. First floor.

    1. The ground floor. [U.S.]

    2. The floor next above the ground floor. [Eng.] First fruit or First fruits.

      1. The fruits of the season earliest gathered.

      2. (Feudal Law) One year's profits of lands belonging to the king on the death of a tenant who held directly from him.

    3. (Eng. Eccl. Law) The first year's whole profits of a benefice or spiritual living.

    4. The earliest effects or results.

      See, Father, what first fruits on earth are sprung From thy implanted grace in man!
      --Milton.

      First mate, an officer in a merchant vessel next in rank to the captain.

      First name, same as Christian name. See under Name, n.

      First officer (Naut.), in the merchant service, same as First mate (above).

      First sergeant (Mil.), the ranking non-commissioned officer in a company; the orderly sergeant.
      --Farrow.

      First watch (Naut.), the watch from eight to twelve at midnight; also, the men on duty during that time.

      First water, the highest quality or purest luster; -- said of gems, especially of diamond and pearls.

      Syn: Primary; primordial; primitive; primeval; pristine; highest; chief; principal; foremost.

Wiktionary
first mate

n. (context nautical English) An officer on a merchant ship next in rank to the captain and responsible to the captain for the safety and security of the ship.

WordNet
first mate

n. the officer below the master on a commercial ship [syn: mate]

Usage examples of "first mate".

Khorii said, lifting the first mate into her arms and extricating his tail from the captain's fist.

All hands apart from the spry and cheerful Jagiello looked somewhat bleary, but none so bleary as a glum middle-aged man in a sheepskin cap with books under his arm, who was pointed out to Stephen as the Minnie's first mate.

There was something inside the first mate that was as soft as a rotten apple, cowardice maybe, or kindness gone bad.

Roger's was between my dad's and First Mate Dirk Morton's, in a row along the aft end of the cabin.

It would be like Grod mating Ovra, especially with Uka still his first mate.

Well, at least not as fast as the ship's first mate expected such work to be done.

First, however, the Skipper leant over the afterside of the top, and sung out to the First Mate to send a man up on to the fo'cas'le head with a flare.

The first mate walked down the beach to their dwelling and told them they were about to set sail.

And that one, over on the port side, is the porthole of the first mate's room.

It would be like Grod mating ()vra, especially with Uka still his first mate.