partner
Americannoun
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a person who shares or is associated with another in some action or endeavor; sharer; associate.
- Synonyms:
- accomplice, accessory, colleague
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Law.
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a person associated with another or others as a principal or a contributor of capital in a business or a joint venture, usually sharing its risks and profits.
-
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a spouse; a husband or a wife.
-
the person with whom one cohabits in a romantic relationship.
I'd like you to meet my partner, Sarah.
-
either of two people who dance together.
my favorite partner in the waltz.
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a player on the same side or team as another.
My tennis partner was an excellent player.
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Nautical. partners, a framework of timber round a hole in a ship's deck, to support a mast, capstan, pump, etc.
verb (used with object)
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to associate as a partner or partners with.
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to serve as the partner of.
noun
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an ally or companion
a partner in crime
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a member of a partnership
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one of a pair of dancers or players on the same side in a game
my bridge partner
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either member of a couple in a relationship
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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partnersimple
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partnerssimple
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have partneredperfect
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has partneredperfect
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am partneringprogressive
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are partneringprogressive
-
is partneringprogressive
-
have been partneringperfect progressive
-
has been partneringperfect progressive
Past
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partneredsimple
-
had partneredperfect
-
was partneringprogressive
-
were partneringprogressive
-
had been partneringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of partner
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English partener, alteration of parcener by association with part
Explanation
If you open a lemonade stand with your brother, then your brother is your business partner. Partner means "to pair up." At a square dance, the call "partner up!" means it's time to find someone to dance with. In business, there are often multiple partners — each one owns a share of the business, and has a share of the risk. Some people call their spouse or the person they're in a long-term relationship with their partner — it has more egalitarian senses than "husband" or "wife," and signals commitment even if you're not married.
Vocabulary lists containing partner
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act I
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Relationships
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Chapter 20: The Industrial Age
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Every single line item is more,” says Julie Leone, co-owner and managing partner of 443 Social Club & Lounge, a 75-person venue in Syracuse, N.Y.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
MoffettNathanson analysts said that each of the three major wireless companies have to trust that their rivals won’t agree to let Starlink partner with them as a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 25, 2026
Aston Martin's engine partner Honda will also take an upgraded power-unit to the next race, the Dutch Grand Prix, after Formula 1's four-week summer break.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
"The key objective is to deliver capabilities quickly," Pascal Fabre, a partner at advisory firm AlixPartners, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
The actual case was tucked inside a backpack carried by another agent, who along with his partner was boarding a train for Paris.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
That investigation into overcapacity concerns was announced in March and is targeting 16 economies, including major trading partners like the European Union, China, Mexico, Japan and India.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
Ferguson said Boeing's model of building with regional partners was intended to give countries greater control over the capability rather than simply importing a US system.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
This year, the firm shrank the number of U.S. audit partners by 10% and is completely rethinking the role of junior-level auditors—college graduates who generally start with a salary around $80,000.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Lehigh Acres sprang up more than 70 years ago when wealthy Chicago businessman Lee Ratner and some partners began buying thousands of acres of ranchland and eventually divided it into more than 100,000 residential lots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
“I know. It never does. Anyway, what I want, Jake, is your full cooperation. We must become true partners in this enterprise so I can refine and replicate my formulas.”
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
The university partnered with Universal to bring some of the text to press calls for Nolan's film.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Some entertainment companies including Disney and Universal have sued AI companies alleging copyright infringement, whereas other companies such as “Hunger Games” studio Lionsgate have partnered with AI startup Runway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Never married, publicly partnered or linked romantically with a woman, the senator consistently denied he was gay in the face of barbs, jokes and speculation.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
In the U.S., it partnered with T-Mobile to provide such links.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
In the search for the Mona Lisa, Louis Lépine was partnered with Alphonse Bertillon, a pioneer in this new field of forensic science.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
The partnering company would lose too, Zhu noted — just perhaps not quite as much.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 25, 2026
It has met that goal on an annualized basis since 2020, according to its website, by partnering with renewable energy providers on long-term power purchase agreements.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
Broadcom is partnering with Blackstone and Apollo Global Management to launch a $35 billion platform to finance AI infrastructure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Sunrise, for its part, views Silverado as a competitor and is not interested in partnering on the redevelopment project.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
I just bet partnering me with Bernard is some devious experiment: what happens if we mix trouble-hating girl with bully boy?
From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
