father
♦♦♦ fa|ther /f'ɑːðər/ (fathers fathering fathered)
1 [N-FAMILY]
Your father is your male parent. You can also call someone your father if he brings you up as if he was this man.
His father was a painter...
He would be a good father to my children.
...Mr Stoneman, a father of five.
2 [VERB] V n, V n by n
When a man fathers a child, he makes a woman pregnant and their child is born.
She claims Mark fathered her child...
He fathered at least three children by the wives of other men.
3 [N-COUNT] N of n
The man who invented or started something is sometimes referred to as the father of that thing.
...Max Dupain, regarded as the father of modern photography.
4 [N-VOC; N-TITLE; N-COUNT]
In some Christian churches, priests are addressed or referred to as Father.fa|ther fig|ure (father figures)
also father-figure
[N-COUNT]
If you describe someone as a father figure, you mean that you feel able to turn to that person for advice and support in the same way that you might turn to your father.
She believed her daughter needed a father-figure...
He became a father figure to the whole company.found|ing fa|ther (founding fathers)
1 [N-COUNT] oft N of n
The founding father of an institution, organization, or idea is the person who sets it up or who first develops it. (LITERARY)
= founder
2 [N-PROPER-PLURAL]
The Founding Fathers of the United States were the members of the American Constitutional Convention of 1787.
1 [N-FAMILY]
Your father is your male parent. You can also call someone your father if he brings you up as if he was this man.
His father was a painter...
He would be a good father to my children.
...Mr Stoneman, a father of five.
2 [VERB] V n, V n by n
When a man fathers a child, he makes a woman pregnant and their child is born.
She claims Mark fathered her child...
He fathered at least three children by the wives of other men.
3 [N-COUNT] N of n
The man who invented or started something is sometimes referred to as the father of that thing.
...Max Dupain, regarded as the father of modern photography.
4 [N-VOC; N-TITLE; N-COUNT]
In some Christian churches, priests are addressed or referred to as Father.fa|ther fig|ure (father figures)
also father-figure
[N-COUNT]
If you describe someone as a father figure, you mean that you feel able to turn to that person for advice and support in the same way that you might turn to your father.
She believed her daughter needed a father-figure...
He became a father figure to the whole company.found|ing fa|ther (founding fathers)
1 [N-COUNT] oft N of n
The founding father of an institution, organization, or idea is the person who sets it up or who first develops it. (LITERARY)
= founder
2 [N-PROPER-PLURAL]
The Founding Fathers of the United States were the members of the American Constitutional Convention of 1787.