partner
Americannoun
-
partners
plural
-
a person who shares or is associated with another in some action or endeavor; sharer; associate.
- Synonyms:
- accomplice, accessory, colleague
-
Law.
-
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.
-
-
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.
-
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)
-
partners,
present (3rd person singular)
-
partnered,
past participle, past
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partnering
present participle
-
to associate as a partner or partners with.
-
to serve as the partner of.
noun
-
an ally or companion
a partner in crime
-
a member of a partnership
-
one of a pair of dancers or players on the same side in a game
my bridge partner
-
either member of a couple in a relationship
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
partnersimple
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partnerssimple
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have partneredperfect
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has partneredperfect
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am partneringprogressive
-
are partneringprogressive
-
is partneringprogressive
-
have been partneringperfect progressive
-
has been partneringperfect progressive
Past
-
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:
Beard said she's looking to partner with a gallery in order to display her latest collection.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
The last time he had expressed frustration about the Commanders on social media was three years ago, shortly after Harris became majority owner and Johnson had chipped in $240 million as a limited partner.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
David Katz, a partner at Canadian venture firm Radical Ventures, said it best: “It used to be, ‘Where am I getting my capital?’
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
Yet the prevailing trend in long-dated yields clearly matters to long-term equity returns, said Jordan Rizzuto, managing partner and CIO at GammaRoad Capital Partners.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 11, 2026
I didn’t even bother since my partner was a biter.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
The rack will support agentic AI, AMD said, and the blueprint is open, meaning the company’s ecosystem partners can further develop and adopt the hardware and software.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026
The filmmakers, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, are talented and charismatic, former romantic partners who still work together because that’s how Europeans roll.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
Abdullah Al-Alimi Bawazir, vice-president of Yemen's internationally recognised government, called for "decisive actions" from regional and international partners.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
The IOM urged "donors and partners to strengthen support for Djibouti's response, including search and rescue operations and life-saving assistance".
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
When we were in the fourth grade, we planned to be partners for the school-wide science fair.
From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence
To investigate these effects in greater detail, the Texas A&M team partnered with scientists at the University of Oklahoma and applied a powerful technique called spatial transcriptomics.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
But what if you happen to be partnered with the person making the sound, stuck in a room with him for hours on end like your very livelihood depends on it?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
He headed the firm Intratrek Zimbabwe, which partnered with Chinese electrical giant CHiNT Electric.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Over the last few months, to test the process, reporters from ProPublica partnered with local journalists in three states to establish private schools.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
I’m partnered up with Simone, athlete extraordinaire, for our weights unit, so there’s no opportunity to talk to Tats in class.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
The company has also been improving its virtual reality headsets and smart glasses, partnering with celebrities such as Kylie Jenner and brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley to market them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
Gap is partnering with Just Your Type, known as JYT.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
Clark agrees the brand has "homed in on experts in their craft, rather than partnering with a million different people" like other fashion brands have made the mistake of doing.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Mastercard launched an artificial-intelligence payment option for everyday purchases, partnering with the startup Alchemy to allow consumers to set up AI agents for online shopping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
“I’m thinking of partnering with him. Seems like working for yourself might be the way to go these days.”
From "A Soft Place to Land" by Janae Marks
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.
