mother
♦♦♦ moth|er /m'ʌðər/ (mothers mothering mothered)
1 [N-FAMILY]
Your mother is the woman who gave birth to you. You can also call someone your mother if she brings you up as if she was this woman.
She sat on the edge of her mother's bed...
She's an English teacher and a mother of two children...
I'm here, Mother.
2 [VERB] V n
If a woman mothers a child, she looks after it and brings it up, usually because she is its mother.
Colleen had dreamed of mothering a large family.
● mothering [N-UNCOUNT]
The reality of mothering is frequently very different from the romantic ideal.
3 [VERB] V n
If you mother someone, you treat them with great care and affection, as if they were a small child.
Stop mothering me.moth|er coun|try (mother countries)
also Mother Country
1 [N-COUNT] oft with poss
Someone's mother country is the country in which they or their ancestors were born and to which they still feel emotionally linked, even if they live somewhere else.
Dr Kengerli looks to Turkey as his mother country.
= motherland
2 [N-SING] usu the N
If you refer to the mother country of a particular state or country, you are referring to the very powerful country that used to control its affairs.
Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, had no colonial conflict with the mother country.moth|er fig|ure (mother figures)
also mother-figure
[N-COUNT]
If you regard someone as a mother figure, you think of them as having the role of a mother and being the person you can turn to for help, advice, or support.moth|er tongue (mother tongues)
also mother-tongue
[N-COUNT] oft poss N
Your mother tongue is the language that you learn from your parents when you are a baby.
= native tonguesur|ro|gate moth|er (surrogate mothers)
[N-COUNT]
A surrogate mother is a woman who has agreed to give birth to a baby on behalf of another woman.
1 [N-FAMILY]
Your mother is the woman who gave birth to you. You can also call someone your mother if she brings you up as if she was this woman.
She sat on the edge of her mother's bed...
She's an English teacher and a mother of two children...
I'm here, Mother.
2 [VERB] V n
If a woman mothers a child, she looks after it and brings it up, usually because she is its mother.
Colleen had dreamed of mothering a large family.
● mothering [N-UNCOUNT]
The reality of mothering is frequently very different from the romantic ideal.
3 [VERB] V n
If you mother someone, you treat them with great care and affection, as if they were a small child.
Stop mothering me.moth|er coun|try (mother countries)
also Mother Country
1 [N-COUNT] oft with poss
Someone's mother country is the country in which they or their ancestors were born and to which they still feel emotionally linked, even if they live somewhere else.
Dr Kengerli looks to Turkey as his mother country.
= motherland
2 [N-SING] usu the N
If you refer to the mother country of a particular state or country, you are referring to the very powerful country that used to control its affairs.
Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, had no colonial conflict with the mother country.moth|er fig|ure (mother figures)
also mother-figure
[N-COUNT]
If you regard someone as a mother figure, you think of them as having the role of a mother and being the person you can turn to for help, advice, or support.moth|er tongue (mother tongues)
also mother-tongue
[N-COUNT] oft poss N
Your mother tongue is the language that you learn from your parents when you are a baby.
= native tonguesur|ro|gate moth|er (surrogate mothers)
[N-COUNT]
A surrogate mother is a woman who has agreed to give birth to a baby on behalf of another woman.