as in associates
a person frequently seen in the company of another
inseparable running mates who first met when they were in elementary school
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Recent Examples of running mates
Sara Duterte and President Marcos were running mates in a whirlwind alliance in the 2022 election but have since had a bitter falling out.
—
Jim Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2026
The Timberwolves spent $225 million this summer to keep Julius Randle and Naz Reid as running mates for Anthony Edwards, and the Wolves return all but one key rotation player from a team that has made it to the Western Conference finals in each of the last two seasons.
—Jon Krawczynski, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025
Jim Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2026
The Timberwolves spent $225 million this summer to keep Julius Randle and Naz Reid as running mates for Anthony Edwards, and the Wolves return all but one key rotation player from a team that has made it to the Western Conference finals in each of the last two seasons.
—Jon Krawczynski, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for running mates
Noun
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Many of the emails in the Epstein files had the names of his contacts and associates redacted.—
Daniel Ruetenik,
CBS News,
19 June 2026
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Entire management philosophies were built around optimizing the relationship between partners, associates, utilization, and realization.—
Joseph Andrew,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2026
Noun
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Kemp hasn’t been as forceful on the issue as some GOP colleagues would have liked.—
AJ Willingham,
AJC.com,
17 June 2026
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Friends and colleagues still regularly drop off fresh finds.—
A.D. Quig,
Chicago Tribune,
17 June 2026
Noun
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For the admiral, this has always been a revenge mission against the Sea Snake, the man who has ruled the Narrow and Summer Seas for far too long, killing her friends along the way.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
22 June 2026
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AIs will be our friends, our confidants, our therapists, our doctors, our employees, our business partners—and yes, in many cases, our romantic partners and lovers.—
Rob Toews,
Forbes.com,
22 June 2026
Noun
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Bonnie herself has grown in subsequent sequels, and now Toy Story 5 finds her as a shy 8-year-old struggling to balance her affection for vintage dolls like Jessie with the shinier tech her peers prefer.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
19 June 2026
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When David Cordani hands over the title of Cigna CEO to Brian Evanko on July 1, the triathlete will be ending the longest leadership run of any of his industry peers.—
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson,
semafor.com,
19 June 2026
Noun
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All fairly standard so far, but an interesting wrinkle in the design is plans to give it some drone buddies.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
20 June 2026
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For those uninitiated, Amazon Prime’s latest college drama, Off Campus, has sparked a dedicated following for its respectful portrayal of friendships, fun, and even, puck buddies bunnies.—
Elle Turner,
Glamour,
18 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Running mates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/running%20mates. Accessed 23 Jun. 2026.
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