I. fa ‧ ther 1 S1 W1 /ˈfɑːðə $ -ər/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: fæder ]
1 . PARENT a male parent:
Ask your father to help you.
Andrew was very excited about becoming a father.
He’s been like a father to me.
a father of two/three/four etc (=a man with two, three etc children)
The driver, a father of four, escaped uninjured.
Steve recently became the proud father of a 7lb 12oz baby girl.
2 . PRIEST Father a priest, especially in the Roman Catholic Church:
I have sinned, Father.
Father Devlin
⇨ ↑ Holy Father
3 . fathers [plural] people related to you who lived a long time ago SYN ancestors :
Our fathers were exiles from their native land.
⇨ ↑ forefather
4 . GOD Father a way of talking to or talking about God, used in the Christian religion:
our Heavenly Father
5 . the father of something the man who was responsible for starting something:
Freud is the father of psychoanalysis.
6 . from father to son if property or skill passes from father to son, children receive it or learn it from their parents:
This is a district where old crafts are handed down from father to son.
7 . like father like son used to say that a boy behaves like his father, especially when this behaviour is bad
8 . a bit of how’s your father British English informal the act of having sex – used humorously
⇨ ↑ city fathers , ↑ founding father
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THESAURUS
▪ father a male parent:
My father’s a doctor.
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He’s a father of three.
▪ dad informal used when talking to your father, or about someone's father:
Can I borrow your car, Dad?
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Her dad retired ten years ago.
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My dad was in the army.
▪ daddy a name for father, which is used especially by young children or when you are talking to young children:
Where’s your daddy?
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Daddy, can I have a drink, please?
▪ pop American English informal ( also pa old-fashioned ) used when talking to your father, or about someone's father:
I helped Pop fix the gate this morning.
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Can I help, Pa?
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He is in New York with his Pop's credit card, eating all the ice cream and pizza the city has to offer.
▪ papa old-fashioned informal used when talking to your father, or about someone's father:
Papa had forbidden me to go.
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She saw her papa 's face change at this news.
▪ sb’s old man informal someone's father – used when talking about him in a way that is not very respectful:
His old man wouldn’t let him use the car.
▪ stepfather ( also stepdad informal ) a man who is married to your mother, who is not your father but often acts as your parent:
Her stepfather is really nice.
II. father 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . to become the father of a child by making a woman ↑ pregnant :
Hodgkins fathered seven children.
2 . formal to start an important new idea or system:
Bevan fathered the concept of the National Health Service.
father something on somebody phrasal verb British English
formal to claim that someone is responsible for something when they are not:
A collection of Irish stories was fathered on him.