Meaning of match In English

• 0 a sports competition or event in which two people or teams compete against each other:

  • a tennis match

  • a football/cricket match

  • We won/lost the match.

  • Liverpool have a match with (= against) Blackburn next week.

• 1 a short, thin stick made of wood or cardboard and covered with a special chemical at one end that burns when rubbed firmly against a rough surface:

  • a box of matches

  • You should always strike a match away from you.

• 2 a person or thing that is equal to another person or thing in strength, speed, or quality

  • Gibson ran well but was no match for the young Italian.

• 3 something that is similar to or combines well with something else:

  • The curtains look great - they're a perfect match for the sofa.

  • Theirs is a match made in heaven (= a very good relationship).

• 4 to be as good as someone or something else:

  • It would be difficult to match the service this airline gives its customers.

• 5 If two colours, designs, or objects match, they are similar or look attractive together:

  • Do you think these two colours match?

  • Does this shirt match these trousers?

  • a sofa with curtains to match

• 6 to choose someone or something that is suitable for a particular person, activity, or purpose:

  • In the first exercise you have to match each capital city to its country.

• 7 a sports competition or event in which two people or teams compete against each other:

  • a tennis/wrestling match

  • fig. They got into a shouting/shoving match (= they were arguing or fighting).

• 8 a short, thin stick of wood or cardboard, covered at one end with a material that will burn when rubbed against a rough surface

• 9 to be similar to or the same as something, or to combine well with someone or something else:

  • [ I ] The shirt and pants match perfectly.

  • [ T ] Her fingerprints matched the prints that were taken from the crime scene.

• 10 to be equal to another person or thing in some quality:

  • [ T ] It would be difficult to match the service this airline gives its customers.

• 11 to be equal to another person or thing in quality, amount, or level:

  • Few people can match his combination of skills.

  • Results this year may not match last year's.

  • I'm looking for a job that matches my qualifications and ambitions.

• 12 to be the same as something else, or to be the same as each other:

  • The program automatically finds websites and news stories that match your interests.

  • His actions and his words did not match.

• 13 to find something that is the same as something else, or goes well with it:

  • match sth against sth Bring a sample of the colour you want to our store, and we will match it against one of our paint colours.

  • match sth/sb to sth We can help you match the person to the job.

• 14 to give or offer the same amount of money as has been given, collected, or offered by someone else:

  • It's hard for small stores to match supermarket prices.

  • The charity will receive federal money to match the first $250 of each contribution.

• 15 something that is the same as something else:

  • I searched for his name in the database but got the message "No match".

  • find/make a match Detectives found a match with samples taken from the crime scene.

  • I compared the two signatures, and they were an exact match.

• 16 a person or thing that is equal to another person or thing in quality or power:

  • a match for sb/sth The newspaper's new head is certainly a match for the previous editor.

• 17 to be less powerful or effective than someone or something else:

  • Their computer firewall was no match for the hackers.