messmate

American  

[mes-meyt] / ˈmɛsˌmeɪt /

noun

1. a person, especially a friend, who is a member of a group regularly taking meals together, as in an army camp.

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messmate British  

/ ˈmɛsˌmeɪt /

noun

1. a person with whom one shares meals in a mess, esp in the army

2. any of various eucalyptus trees that grow amongst other species

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Etymology

Origin of messmate

First recorded in 1720–30; mess + mate ¹

Example Sentences

Many of the Cape Otway koalas wouldn’t touch the stuff and starved to death, with the messmate trees in plain view.

From Washington Post • Aug. 23, 2019

The others got fecal transplants from wild-caught koalas living in and dining on messmate.

From Washington Post • Aug. 23, 2019

The presence of bacteria associated with messmate digestion skyrocketed, said Michaela Blyton, an ecologist at the University of Queensland and the lead author of a paper describing the findings.

From Washington Post • Aug. 23, 2019

Known as messmate, it’s considered less nutritious, but it’s eucalyptus all the same.

From Washington Post • Aug. 23, 2019

I say, messmate, if I’d never seen ’em before and met ’em as I was coming out of the ‘Jolly Tapsters’ I’d think—I was only seein’ one, though there appeared to be two.”

From Wild Life in the Land of the Giants A Tale of Two Brothers by Stables, Gordon