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bedfellow

[ bed-fel-oh ]
/ ˈbɛdˌfɛl oʊ /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bedfellow ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Also called bedmate. a person who shares one's bed.
an associate or collaborator, especially one who forms a temporary alliance for reasons of expediency: Politics makes strange bedfellows.

RELATED WORDS

mate, friend, customer, patron, visitor, caller, companion, inmate, client, recipient, tenant, vacationer, roomie, flatmate, bunkmate, lodger, transient, boarder, frequenter, renter

Nearby words

bedesman, bedevil, bedevilment, bedew, bedfast, bedfellow, bedford, bedford cord, bedford heights, bedford, john of lancaster, duke of, bedfordshire

Origin of bedfellow

First recorded in 1400–50, bedfellow is from the late Middle English word bedfelow. See bed, fellow
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bedfellow

British Dictionary definitions for bedfellow

bedfellow

/ (ˈbɛdˌfɛləʊ) /

noun

a person with whom one shares a bed
a temporary ally or associate
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bedfellow

bedfellow

n.

"close friend, roommate," mid-15c., from bed (n.) + fellow (n.). Also (late 15c) "concubine." Earlier in the "close companion" sense was bed-fere (early 14c.). Bedsister "husband's concubine" is recorded in Middle English (c.1300).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper