From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
mother
n 1: a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term
of address to your mother); "the mother of three
children" [syn: female parent] [ant: father]
2: a stringy slimy substance consisting of yeast cells and
bacteria; forms during fermentation and is added to cider
or wine to produce vinegar
3: a term of address for an elderly woman
4: a condition that is the inspiration for an activity or
situation; "necessity is the mother of invention"
v 1: care for like a mother; "She fusses over her husband" [syn:
fuss, overprotect]
2: make children; "Abraham begot Isaac"; "Men often father
children but don't recognize them" [syn: beget, get,
engender, father, sire, generate, bring forth]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Mauther \Mau"ther\ (m[add]"[th][~e]r), n. [Cf. AS. maeg[thorn] a
maid.] [Also spelled mawther, mother.]
A girl; esp., a great, awkward girl; a wench. [Prov. Eng.]
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Mother \Moth"er\ (m[u^][th]"[~e]r), n. [OE. moder, AS. m[=o]dor;
akin to D. moeder, OS. m[=o]dar, G. mutter, OHG. muotar,
Icel. m[=o][eth]ir, Dan. & Sw. moder, OSlav. mati, Russ.
mate, Ir. & Gael. mathair, L. mater, Gr. mh`thr, Skr.
m[=a]t[.r]; cf. Skr. m[=a] to measure. [root]268. Cf.
Material, Matrix, Metropolis, Father.]
1. A female parent; especially, one of the human race; a
woman who has borne a child.
[1913 Webster]
2. That which has produced or nurtured anything; source of
birth or origin; generatrix.
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Alas! poor country! . . . it can not
Be called our mother, but our grave. --Shak.
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I behold . . . the solitary majesty of Crete, mother
of a religion, it is said, that lived two thousand
years. --Landor.
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3. An old woman or matron. [Familiar]
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4. The female superior or head of a religious house, as an
abbess, etc.
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5. Hysterical passion; hysteria. [Obs.] --Shak.
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Mother Carey's chicken (Zool.), any one of several species
of small petrels, as the stormy petrel ({Procellaria
pelagica}), and Leach's petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa),
both of the Atlantic, and Oceanodroma furcata of the
North Pacific.
Mother Carey's goose (Zool.), the giant fulmar of the
Pacific. See Fulmar.
Mother's mark (Med.), a congenital mark upon the body; a
birthmark; a naevus.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Mother \Moth"er\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mothered; p. pr. & vb.
n. Mothering.]
To adopt as a son or daughter; to perform the duties of a
mother to.
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The queen, to have put lady Elizabeth besides the
crown, would have mothered another body's child.
--Howell.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Mother \Moth"er\, n. [Akin to D. modder mud, G. moder mold, mud,
Dan. mudder mud, and to E. mud. See Mud.]
A film or membrane which is developed on the surface of
fermented alcoholic liquids, such as vinegar, wine, etc., and
acts as a means of conveying the oxygen of the air to the
alcohol and other combustible principles of the liquid, thus
leading to their oxidation.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The film is composed of a mass of rapidly developing
microorganisms of the genus Mycoderma, and in the
mother of vinegar the microorganisms ({Mycoderma
aceti}) composing the film are the active agents in the
Conversion of the alcohol into vinegar. When thickened
by growth, the film may settle to the bottom of the
fluid. See Acetous fermentation, under
Fermentation.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Mother \Moth"er\, a.
Received by birth or from ancestors; native, natural; as,
mother language; also acting the part, or having the place of
a mother; producing others; originating.
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It is the mother falsehood from which all idolatry is
derived. --T. Arnold.
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Mother cell (Biol.), a cell which, by endogenous divisions,
gives rise to other cells (daughter cells); a parent cell.
Mother church, the original church; a church from which
other churches have sprung; as, the mother church of a
diocese.
Mother country, the country of one's parents or ancestors;
the country from which the people of a colony derive their
origin.
Mother liquor (Chem.), the impure or complex residual
solution which remains after the salts readily or
regularly crystallizing have been removed.
Mother queen, the mother of a reigning sovereign; a queen
mother.
Mother tongue.
(a) A language from which another language has had its
origin.
(b) The language of one's native land; native tongue.
Mother water. See Mother liquor (above).
Mother wit, natural or native wit or intelligence.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Mother \Moth"er\, v. i.
To become like, or full of, mother, or thick matter, as
vinegar.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
mother \moth"er\ (m[u^][th]"[~e]r), n. [Shortened from
motherfucker as a euphemism.]
1. Same as motherfucker. [Vulgar slang]
[PJC]
2. A person or thing with some exceptional quality, as great
size or power; as, a grizzly stuck his nose in my tent and
I grabbed my pistol and shot the mother. [Slang]
[PJC]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 Sep 2003) [foldoc]:
mother
parent