matador

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Related to matador: bullfighting

mat·a·dor

(măt′ə-dôr′)

1. A bullfighter who performs the final passes and kills the bull.

2. Games One of the highest trumps in certain card games.

[Spanish, from matar, to kill, possibly from Vulgar Latin *mattāre, to beat senseless, perhaps from Latin mattus, stupefied; see mat².]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

matador

matadore

1. (Bullfighting) the principal bullfighter who is appointed to kill the bull

2. (Card Games) (in some card games such as skat) one of the highest ranking cards

3. (Games, other than specified) a game played with dominoes in which the dots on adjacent halves must total seven

[C17: from Spanish, from matar to kill]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mat•a•dor

(ˈmæt əˌdɔr)

n.

the bullfighter in a bullfight who traditionally kills the bull.

[1665–75; < Sp, =mata(r) to kill + –dor -tor]

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Noun

matador - the principal bullfighter who is appointed to make the final passes and kill the bull

bullfighter, toreador - someone who fights bulls

Translations

مُصارِع الثيران

matador

matadori

matador

nautabani

matadors

matador

матадор

matador

斗牛士

matador

[ˈmætədɔːʳ] N → matador m, diestro m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

matador

n → Matador m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

matador

(ˈmӕtədoː) noun

the man who kills the bull in a bullfight.

References in classic literature ?

Then stepped forward Ordonez, the chief matador, with the long sword and the scarlet cape.

Afterward, when he is quite tired and no longer quick, the matador sticks the sword into him."

The audience hissed the matador. I glanced at John Harned.

He ran away from the matador and the capadors, and circled the edge of the ring, looking up at the many faces.

She was angry with the matador. He was awkward, and she had desired a clever exhibition.

"I have seen clumsy matadors, and I tell you it is not nice."

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He kept rushing the matador, who always slipped smartly and gracefully aside in time, waiting for a sure chance; and at last it came; the bull made a deadly plunge for him - was avoided neatly, and as he sped by, the long sword glided silently into him, between left shoulder and spine - in and in, to the hilt.

The great gate is flung open, and the procession marches in, splendidly costumed and glittering: the marshals of the day, then the picadores on horseback, then the matadores on foot, each surrounded by his quadrille of CHULOS.

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When the bullock has been dragged to the spot where it is to be slaughtered, the matador with great caution cuts the hamstrings.

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He lived in a magnificent hotel and was one of the matadors of finance, did business with Ouvrard, kept open house, and led the scandalous life of the period,--the life of a Cincinnatus, on sacks of corn harvested without trouble, stolen rations, "little houses" full of mistresses, in which were given splendid fetes to the Directors of the Republic.

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Matador is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States, with an emphasis on oil and natural gas shale and other unconventional plays.

Matador Resources Company Announces Appointment of New Director

Such a daring, dangerous approach saw Belmonte gored on multiple occasions and venerated as the greatest matador of all time.