Match

n. [Fr. mèche, Pr. mecha, meca, Sp. & Pg. mecha, It. miccia, L. Lat. myxus, mīxus, mīxa, nīxa, from Lat. myxus, Gr. μύξα, a lamp-nozzle.] A thing used for catching and retaining or communicating fire, made of some substance which takes fire readily, or which, being lighted, remains burning a long time; especially, in modern usage, a splint of wood dipped at one end in a preparation of sulphur, phosphorus, or the like, and ignited by rubbing.

Quick-match, a match made of threads of cotton, or cotton wick, steeped in gummed brandy or whisky, then soaked in a paste of mealed powder and gummed spirits, and afterward strewed over with mealed powder. It burns at the rate of a yard in thirteen seconds, and is used as priming for heavy mortars, carcasses, fireworks, &c.—Slow-match, a match made to burn very slowly, as four or five inches an hour, and used for firing artillery mines, &c. It is usually a piece of slightly-twisted hemp rope, soaked in a solution of saltpeter, sugar of lead, or the like, or a piece of well-twisted cotton rope without preparation.

n. [O. Eng. macche, A-S. maca, gemaca, gemicca, Icel. maki, Sw. make, Dan. mage, O. H. Ger. gamahho, M. H. Ger. mach, gemache, L. Ger. & D. makker. See MAKE.]

1Sense 1. A person or thing equal or similar to another in quality; one able to mate or cope with another on fair terms; an equal; a mate; a companion.

Government . . . makes an innocent man of the lowest ranks a match for the mightiest of his fellow-subjects. Addison.

2Sense 2. A bringing together of two parties suited to one another, as for a union, a trial of skill or force, a contest, or the like; as, specifically, (a.) A contest to try strength or skill, or to determine superiority; an emulous struggle.

A solemn match was made; he lost the prize. Dryden.

(b.) A matrimonial union; a marriage.

Love doth seldom suffer itself to be confined by other matches than those of its own making. Boyle.

3Sense 3. Hence, a candidate for matrimony; one to be gained in marriage.

She inherited a fair fortune of her own, . . . and was looked upon as the richest match in the west. Clarendon.

v. t. [imp. & p. p. MATCHED (mācht); p. pr. & vb. n. MATCHING.]

1Sense 1. To be a mate or match for; to be able to compete with; to rival successfully; to equal.

No settled senses of the world can match The pleasure of that madness. Shak.

2Sense 2. To furnish with its match; to bring a mate, match, or equal, against; to show an equal competitor to; to set something in competition with.

No history or antiquity can match his policies and his conduct. South.

3Sense 3. To bring as mate or equal against something; to oppose as equal; to set in competition.

Eternal might To match with their inventions they presumed So easy, and of his thunder made a scorn. Milton.

4Sense 4. To make equal, proportionate, or suitable; to adapt. “To match patterns and colors.” Swift.

Let poets match their subject to their strength. Roscommon.

5Sense 5. To marry; to give in marriage.

A senator of Rome, while Rome survived, Would not have matched his daughter with a king. Addison.

6Sense 6. To purify, as vessels, by burning a match in them.