matador
[mat-uh-dawr]
- 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.
- one of the principal cards in skat and certain other games.
- (initial capital letter) a jet-powered U.S. surface-to-surface missile.
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Origin of matador
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for matador
Contemporary Examples
The North Dakota native is the fourth of seven children raised in the small town of Matador, pop.
Never Bet Against Senator Heidi Heitkamp, North Dakota’s Rising StarSandra McElwaine
January 23, 2014
It's a snap of the matador's red cape, a defiant baiting of Fox News and talk radio.
A representative from her label, Matador Records, confirmed that nothing has been canceled.
Gerard Cosloy, who would sign the band to his Matador Records years later, criticized their early shows.
Yo La Tengo was one of those bands, eventually signing to tastemaker Matador Records.
Historical Examples
There were several Italian peasants, a Cavalier, a Roundhead, and a matador.
The New Girl at St. Chad'sAngela Brazil
No matador in all Spain could have performed the feat more cleverly.
The Desert HomeMayne Reid
I prayed that the matador had met with a similar interruption!
The War TrailMayne Reid
It was Isabella who first saw the matador, and uttered an exclamation.
The Pretty Sister Of JosFrances Hodgson Burnett
The matador of the fourth bull made an exceedingly bad thrust.
Poor Folk in SpainJan Gordon
matador
- the principal bullfighter who is appointed to kill the bull
- (in some card games such as skat) one of the highest ranking cards
- a game played with dominoes in which the dots on adjacent halves must total seven
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Word Origin
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
Word Origin and History for matador
n.
man who kills the bull in a bullfight, 1670s, from Spanish matador, literally "killer," from matar "to kill or wound," probably from Arabic mata "he died," from Persian (see second element in checkmate). Fem. form is matadora.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper