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master

[mas-ter, mah-ster]

noun

a person with the ability or power to use, control, or dispose of something: a master of six languages; to be master of one's fate.

an owner of a slave, animal, etc.

an employer of workers or servants.

the male head of a household.

a person eminently skilled in something, as an occupation, art, or science: the great masters of the Impressionist period.

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a person whose teachings others accept or follow: a Zen master.

Chiefly British. a male teacher or schoolmaster.

a worker qualified to teach apprentices and to carry on a trade independently.

a title given to a bridge or chess player who has won or placed in a certain number of officially recognized tournaments.

10.

a person holding this title.

11.

a person who commands a merchant ship; captain.

12.

a victor or conqueror.

13.

a presiding officer.

14.

an officer of the court to whom some or all of the issues in a case may be referred for the purpose of taking testimony and making a report to the court.

15.

the Master, Jesus Christ.

16.

a person who has been awarded a master's degree.

17.

a boy or young man (used chiefly as a term of address).

18.

Also called matrix. an original document, drawing, manuscript, etc., from which copies are made.

19.

a device for controlling another device operating in a similar way. Compare slave (def. 5).

20.

Recording.

matrix (def. 13).

a tape or disk from which duplicates may be made.

21.

Also called copy negative. Photography. a film, usually a negative, used primarily for making large quantities of prints.

22.

master of foxhounds.

23.

Archaic. a work of art produced by a master.

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adjective

24.

being master; exercising mastery; dominant.

25.

chief or principal: a master list.

26.

directing or controlling: a master switch.

27.

of or pertaining to a master from which copies are made: master film; master matrix; master record; master tape.

28.

dominating or predominant: a master play.

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29.

being a master of some occupation, art, etc.; eminently skilled: a master diplomat; a master pianist.

30.

being a master carrying on one's trade independently, rather than a worker employed by another: a master plumber.

31.

characteristic of a master; showing mastery.

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Master is one of our favorite verbs.

So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:

to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle.

to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.

LEARN MORE FUN, UNUSUAL VERBS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

verb (used with object)

32.

to make oneself master of; become an adept in: to master a language.

33.

to conquer or overcome: to master one's pride.

34.

to rule or direct as master: to master a crew.

35.

Recording. to produce a master tape, disk, or record of: The producer recorded, mixed, and mastered the new album.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English maistre, maister, Old English magister < Latin; akin to magnus great

Related forms

mas·ter·less, adjective

out·mas·ter, verb (used with object)

sub·mas·ter, noun

un·der·mas·ter, noun

un·mas·tered, adjective

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well-mas·tered, adjective

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Synonyms
1. adept, expert. 26. main, leading, primary, prime, cardinal. 31. adept, expert, skillful. 33. subdue, control. 34. govern, manage.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To master

Example Sentences

Instead, the length of some courses will be based on how quickly students can master the subject, he said.

Montaigne was a master of the suggestive non sequitur and the self-contradiction.

He wasn't an oceanographer, he was a master storyteller," she says.

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Instead, the length of some courses will be based on how quickly students can master the subject, he said.

Montaigne was a master of the suggestive non sequitur and the self-contradiction.

He wasn't an oceanographer, he was a master storyteller," she says.

Oppenheimer was a chess grand master in a game of checkers.

She charts the skills one learns to master over time as the cafeteria poses new and more elaborate challenges.

How to provide privacy while maximizing space and flow was the problem tackled in the design of this master bath.

He photocopies it and emails the scan, distributing a master key that can access a whole floor.

Japan declares master craftsmen to be national treasures.

Invite students to share the responses they wrote on the blackline master.

The rhino had another feature that would have made it a master of winter weather.

Bearden became a master of collage, an art form as complex, fragmented and many-layered as his life.

By adding a pair of peaked dormers, the couple gained room for a new master bath and a tall sitting area with lake views.

Papademitriu, according to this maximum your master has failed.

As students read, they can use the blackline master on p.

We need to master robotics and increase our research in reverse engineering the human mind.

Poe was a master at his craft, he had his faults and made his own mistakes.

The kitchen grew toward the street, and a new master suite borrowed some of the garden area at back.

The stealthy insect, with large compound eyes for nocturnal hunting, is a master sit-and-wait predator.

But when it came to guarding his privacy, he was a master of deflection.

Distribute the black line master so that children can fill in the diagram with you.

Each color rod represents a different length, and they are used to help elementary students master simple addition and fractions.

As they read, students can use the activity master on p.

Barkley was much liked throughout the party and a master orator in the grand tradition.

The master instructs in jabbing the palms under an opponent's armpits.

Apprentice painters would apply background color and decorations, while faces and hands were reserved for master painters.

Many locks let a person create a copy of the master key for a building by starting with any key from that building.

Knots are usually a subject that students master by about.

Master these inter-planetary forces, and you master the markets.

But such cryopreservation of human eggs has proved an extremely difficult technique to master.

Low on food and tired of the quixotic rule of the autocratic master of the ship, they rebelled.

New research may help adult learners master foreign tongues.

Deem admired master painters so much that he spent his own career repainting their works, albeit with clever alterations.

He has proved himself a master at politics and at tapping into the anger of his young black audiences.

Master ceramists handcraft these celadon vases with ornate incising and bas-relief.

What the master and the magician found in their years of brushing away the past did not come easily.

The company, founded by mandolin maker and master craftsman.

The new master bedroom and bath on the top floor overlook the rear garden.

Better than this moral hazard was to make each country master of its own fate.

Weavers fall into three categories: individual weavers, master weavers, and members of cooperatives.

Their different symmetries might be sub-symmetries of a larger master symmetry.

In the master suite, for example, the silk bed frame.

Whoever could master this harsh environment would receive worldwide fame and admiration.

The master designed his compositions to account for relative positions of painting and viewer.

Today he's employed by the city as the bike park's trail master.

Then distribute and preview with students the blackline master on p.

Open up the master bedroom's awning windows or slide open the ground-floor.

After reading the story, use the blackline master on p.

If however, people want to truly master the art of survival, then scientists are in fact needed.

The city, in all its brooding grandeur, takes center stage in stories featuring the master of deduction.

Get our easy master recipes and make all the holiday cookies you crave more.

That's why a meeting between two master musicians from each tradition seems.

There is no design and there certainly is no master plan on the long term.

Seahorses are master mimics that use their cryptic colors and upright posture to blend in with plants.

Two hooches are entirely in the treetops, while the third treehouse forms the master bedroom for a house based on the ground.

Don't worry, you don't have to be a pro in the kitchen to master these recipes.

Three levels of windows give every room a gorgeous view-even the master closet.

Here, stabilizers from the plane's tail section forms a roof over the master suite.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

master (ˈmɑːstə)

—n
1.	the man in authority, such as the head of a household, the employer of servants, or the owner of slaves or animalsRelated: magistral
2.	a. a person with exceptional skill at a certain thing: a master of the violin
	b. (as modifier): a master thief
3.	(often capital) a great artist, esp an anonymous but influential artist
4.	a. a person who has complete control of a situation
	b. an abstract thing regarded as having power or influence: they regarded fate as the master of their lives
5.	a. a workman or craftsman fully qualified to practise his trade and to train others in it
	b. (as modifier): master carpenter
6.	a. an original copy, stencil, tape, etc, from which duplicates are made
	b. (as modifier): master copy
7.	a player of a game, esp chess or bridge, who has won a specified number of tournament games
8.	the principal of some colleges
9.	a highly regarded teacher or leader whose religion or philosophy is accepted by followers
10.	a graduate holding a master's degree
11.	the chief executive officer aboard a merchant ship
12.	a person presiding over a function, organization, or institution
13.	chiefly (Brit) a male teacher
14.	an officer of the Supreme Court of Judicature subordinate to a judge
15.	the superior person or side in a contest
16.	a machine or device that operates to control a similar one
17.	(often capital) the heir apparent of a Scottish viscount or baron
18.	(modifier) overall or controlling: master plan
19.	(modifier) designating a device or mechanism that controls others: master switch
20.	(modifier) main; principal: master bedroom
21.	informal (South African) the master the man of the house

—vb
22.	to become thoroughly proficient in: to master the art of driving
23.	to overcome; defeat: to master your emotions
24.	to rule or control as master

Related: magistral

[Old English magister teacher, from Latin; related to Latin magis more, to a greater extent]

'masterdom

—n

'masterhood

—n

'masterless

—*adj*

'mastership

—n

Master (ˈmɑːstə)

—n
1.	a title of address placed before the first name or surname of a boy
2.	a respectful term of address, esp as used by disciples when addressing or referring to a religious teacher
3.	an archaic equivalent of Mr

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

master

O.E. mægester "one having control or authority," from L. magister "chief, head, director, teacher" (cf. O.Fr. maistre, Fr. maître, It. maestro, Ger. Meister), influenced in M.E. by O.Fr. maistre, from L. magister, contrastive adj. from magis (adv.) "more," itself a comp. of magnus "great."

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Meaning "original of a recording" is from 1904. In academic senses (from M.L. magister) it is attested from late 14c., originally a degree conveying authority to teach in the universities. The verb is attested from early 13c. Related: Mastered.

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