matador

[ mat-uh-dawr ]
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noun
  1. the principal bullfighter in a bullfight who passes the bull with a muleta and then, in many countries, kills it with a sword thrust; a torero.

  2. one of the principal cards in skat and certain other games.

  1. (initial capital letter) a jet-powered U.S. surface-to-surface missile.

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Origin of matador

1
1665–75; <Spanish, equivalent to mata(r) to kill (perhaps <Vulgar Latin *mattāre, presumed derivative of Late Latin mattus soft, weak; cf. matte1) +-dor-tor

Words Nearby matador

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How to use matador in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for matador

matador

/ (ˈmætədɔː) /


noun
  1. the principal bullfighter who is appointed to kill the bull

  2. (in some card games such as skat) one of the highest ranking cards

  1. a game played with dominoes in which the dots on adjacent halves must total seven

Origin of matador

1
C17: from Spanish, from matar to kill

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