Definition of "partner"

Either of a pair of people or things that belong together.  examples

Someone who is associated with another in a common activity or interest.

1. A member of a business or law partnership.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • He Suſpends on theſe Reaſons, that Thomas Rue had granted a general Diſcharge to Adam Muſhet, who was his Conjunct, and correus debendi, after the alleadged Service, which Diſcharged Muſhet, and conſequently Houstoun his Partner.

     1668 July 3, James Dalrymple, “Thomas Rue contra Andrew Houſtoun” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 548

2. A spouse or other person with whom one shares a domestic, romantic or sexual bond.  examples

3. Someone with whom one dances in a two-person dance.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance. […] But she said she must go back, and when they joined the crowd again her partner was haled off with a frightened look to the royal circle, […].

     1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter I, in The Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published 1919

4. Someone with whom one plays on the same side in a game, such as card games or doubles tennis.  examples

(nautical) One of the pieces of wood comprising the framework which strengthens the deck of a wooden ship around the holes through which the mast and other fittings pass.  examples

(Jamaica) A group financial arrangement in which each member contributes a set amount of money over a set period.  examples

(transitive) To join as a partner.  examples

(intransitive, often with with) To work or perform as a partner.  quotations  examples