mother 1 of 3

Definition of mothernext
as in mom
a female human parent he dreaded telling his mother that her favorite figurine had gotten broken

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

mother

2 of 3

adjective

as in maternal
of, relating to, or characteristic of a mother she often offered to babysit for friends, hoping to satisfy her mother urges until she had children of her own

Synonyms & Similar Words

mother

3 of 3

verb

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of mother
Noun
Good was in a relationship with a woman, and her partner, who is butch, spoke impertinently to an ICE officer, so there, Good wasn’t your average white mother after all. M. Gessen, Mercury News, 27 Jan. 2026 In one case, the daughter of a deceased follower recovered four hundred thousand dollars despite the fact that her mother had signed a pledge, at the age of eighty-six, promising not to seek a refund of her donations. E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
Verb
The footage sees Sheriff Mickey Fox (played by Homeland’s Morena Baccarin) juggling her law enforcement duties with the challenges of mothering her daughter Skye (Degrassi: The Next Generation‘s Amanda Arcuri). Claire Franken, TVLine, 24 Sep. 2025 Really, the album is about tiring of mothering men who are great in bed but lack crucial social skills. Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for mother
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mother
Noun
  • Princess Beatrice is mom to daughters Sienna, 4, and Athena, 1, while Princess Eugenie is mother to sons August, 4, and Ernest, 2.
    Janine Henni, PEOPLE, 31 Jan. 2026
  • Deirdre McKiernan was two months old the first time she was wheeled by her mom into an ice hockey rink in a double stroller with her older sister Kate.
    Lori Riley, Hartford Courant, 31 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • His maternal grandfather died in Saudi Airlines Flight 163 in August 1980.
    Wendy Grossman Kantor, PEOPLE, 28 Jan. 2026
  • The United States already has one of the highest maternal mortality rates among high-income countries, with deaths disproportionately affecting people of color and rural communities.
    Jesus Ruiz, STAT, 27 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Boston's David Pastrnak had an assist on Lindholm's goal to extend his scoring streak to four games, with four goals and four assists in that span.
    CBS News, CBS News, 9 Jan. 2026
  • While past studies have shown that dairy products may have a protective effect against dementia, how specific dairy products affect cognitive health remains unclear.
    Julia Ries Wexler, Health, 9 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • There’s evidence of puppies being nursed alongside human babies in Polynesia, Melanesia, and the Americas.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Jan. 2026
  • The difference is even more stark when looking at the annual limits; nursing graduate students would be eligible for just $20,500 per year compared to the $50,000 annual limit for professional degrees.
    Christopher O’Connor, Hartford Courant, 26 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Our show is produced by Chris McLeod of Blue Elevator Productions and Josh Billinson of Semafor Media.
    Ben Smith, semafor.com, 31 Jan. 2026
  • The only viable explanation is that an even higher-energy particle — a more stable one — must have struck the upper atmosphere of the Earth and produced a particle shower, where those decaying particles led to the presence of these muons.
    Big Think, Big Think, 30 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • The moratorium will halt the initial stages of free agency in which teams would seek to deliver qualifying offers and franchise tag designations to players.
    Doug Feinberg, Twin Cities, 13 Jan. 2026
  • Barajas and other co-defendants picked up the parcels and delivered them to Thola-Duran and others, with Thola-Duran acting as a fence to buy the goods at a fraction of their retail value, according to the indictment.
    City News Service, Daily News, 13 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • For a brief period in the 1800s, the Mississippi Delta also birthed the one of the wealthiest cities in the United States.
    Joe Sills, Forbes.com, 30 Jan. 2026
  • Disasters have also birthed lasting, unexpected benefits.
    Jamie Holmes, Twin Cities, 22 Jan. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Mother.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mother. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.

More from Merriam-Webster on mother

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!