mare
gb/mˈɛɹ/ us/mˈɛɹ/
B2
English
~ 6300
kanca, rémálom, holdtenger, mare, lidérc
NOUN
B2
1
kanca
B1
Usage pattern:
[someone] rides a mare
The farmer keeps three mares and one stallion in the field.
A gazda három kancát és egy mént tart a legelőn.
She won the race on a small bay mare she had trained herself.
Egy kis pej kancán nyerte meg a versenyt, amelyet ő maga edzett.
This mare has had two foals in the last five years.
They hired a gentle mare for their daughter to learn to ride on.
Learner examples
The mare is eating grass in the field.
A kanca füvet eszik a legelőn.
He bought a black mare for his farm.
Vett egy fekete kancát a gazdaságába.
The mare and her foal walk together.
She is afraid to ride the tall mare.
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse "mare" with "mayor" because they can sound similar, but "mayor" is a person in charge of a town or city, while "mare" is an adult female horse. Learners may also think "mare" means any horse; in fact, it specifically means a female.
Meaning
adult female horse
Collocations
mare and foal
|ride a mare
|brood mare
|gray mare
|thoroughbred mare
|wild mare
Synonyms
female horse (More explicit and descriptive; often used in explanations rather than as a normal noun in speech.)
|
filly (Usually means a young female horse, not fully adult, so it is more age-specific than "mare".)
Antonyms
stallion (An adult male horse; contrasts with "mare" in terms of sex.)
|
gelding (A castrated male horse; another common opposite when sex is contrasted with a breeding female mare.)
Themes
animals
|nature
|farming
|core_vocabulary
Definition
An adult female horse, or a female donkey or zebra that is fully grown.
An adult female horse, or the adult female of a closely related equine animal such as a donkey or zebra.
NOUN
C1
INFORMAL
2
rémálom
B1
Usage pattern:
[something] is a mare for [someone]
The train strike made getting to work an absolute mare this week.
A vasutassztrájk miatt ezen a héten kész rémálom volt munkába járni.
Sorting out the visa paperwork was a real mare.
A vízumhoz szükséges papírok elintézése igazi rémálom volt.
Her computer crashed before the deadline, and the whole afternoon turned into a mare.
Moving house without a removal company was always going to be a bit of a mare.
Learner examples
The trip to the airport was a mare because the bus was late.
Az út a repülőtérre kész rémálom volt, mert késett a busz.
My exam today was a mare; many questions were very hard.
A mai vizsgám kész rémálom volt; sok kérdés nagyon nehéz volt.
Booking the tickets online was a mare, so I called the office instead.
Common mistake:
Learners may think this "mare" always refers to a bad dream, but in modern informal UK English it usually means a difficult real-life situation. It is also easy to confuse with the animal meaning; context and tone (often complaining) show that this is the informal "problem" sense.
Meaning
very difficult, unpleasant experience
Collocations
an absolute mare
|a bit of a mare
|it was a mare
|such a mare
|turned into a mare
Synonyms
nightmare (Slightly more general and common; can refer to bad dreams or very bad situations, while "mare" in this sense is only for real-life situations and is more informal.)
|
ordeal (More formal and serious; suggests suffering over a period of time, while "mare" is more casual and can be used about everyday difficulties.)
Antonyms
breeze (Informal word meaning something is very easy; used as the opposite of a "mare" when talking about tasks or experiences.)
|
piece of cake (Informal phrase for something very easy, often contrasted with calling a task a "mare".)
Themes
daily life
|emotions
|daily_life
|core_vocabulary
Definition
(Mainly UK) A very bad or difficult situation or experience, like a "nightmare" in real life.
(Mainly UK informal) A very difficult, unpleasant, or chaotic situation or experience, often caused by problems or confusion; short for "nightmare".
NOUN
C1
TECHNICAL
3
holdtenger
C1
mare
C2
Usage pattern:
[name] Mare is on the Moon
Apollo 11 landed on Mare Tranquillitatis, a large lunar mare visible from Earth.
Az Apollo–11 a Mare Tranquillitatis nevű, a Földről is látható nagy holdtengeren szállt le.
The dark patches we see on the full Moon are mostly ancient lava flows called maria, each one a mare.
A teliholdon látható sötét foltok többnyire ősi lávafolyásokból kialakult holdtengerek; latin többes számuk maria, egy-egy ilyen terület pedig mare.
Mare Imbrium is one of the largest impact basins on the Moon, later filled with basalt to form a mare.
Learner examples
Scientists gave each mare on the Moon a Latin name.
A tudósok a Hold minden holdtengerének latin nevet adtak.
From Earth, you can see many dark mares on the Moon.
A Földről sok sötét holdtenger látható a Holdon.
A mare is a flat, dark place on the Moon where old lava cooled.
Common mistake:
Learners may think this "mare" is pronounced like the animal and directly means "sea" in English. In fact it is from Latin for "sea" and is usually pronounced like the English word, but it is used only in scientific names and descriptions of the Moon and similar bodies.
Meaning
dark plain on the Moon
Collocations
lunar mare
|Mare Tranquillitatis
|Mare Imbrium
|basaltic mare
|mare basalt plains
Synonyms
lunar plain (More descriptive and transparent; avoids the historical idea of a "sea" and is easier for learners to understand.)
Antonyms
lunar highlands (Refers to the brighter, elevated, cratered regions of the Moon, which contrast with the darker, flatter maria (mares).)
Themes
science
|space
Definition
A large, dark flat area on the Moon that early scientists thought was a sea when they saw it through telescopes.
In astronomy and planetary science, a large, dark basalt plain on the Moon or another rocky body, originally mistaken for a sea when viewed through early telescopes.
NOUN
C2
LITERARY
4
lidérc
B2
Usage pattern:
a mare visits [someone] in their sleep
In medieval tales, the mare was blamed for suffocating sleepers in the night.
A középkori történetekben a lidércet okolták az alvók éjszakai fojtogatásáért.
Some scholars link the word "nightmare" to the old belief in a mare, a spirit that sat on people as they slept.
Egyes kutatók az angol „nightmare” szót ahhoz a régi hiedelemhez kötik, amely szerint létezett egy lidérc: egy szellem, amely alvás közben ráült az emberekre.
The painting shows a woman lying rigid while a dark mare crouches on her chest.
Learner examples
In old stories, people said a mare made you have bad dreams.
A régi történetekben az emberek azt mondták, hogy egy lidérc okozza a rossz álmokat.
They believed a mare sat on your chest when you could not move in sleep.
Úgy hitték, hogy egy lidérc ül a mellkasodon, amikor alvás közben nem tudsz megmozdulni.
Writers sometimes use the old word "mare" for a bad spirit in the night.
Common mistake:
Learners often assume the "mare" in "nightmare" refers to a female horse, but historically it comes from this older meaning of a harmful night spirit.
Meaning
evil spirit causing nightmares
Collocations
a night mare
|oppressed by a mare
|folkloric mare
|the mare of the night
Synonyms
nightmare spirit (A descriptive modern phrase that explains the idea more clearly; not a traditional single-word term.)
|
incubus (Another type of night demon in folklore; often male and with sexual overtones, so not identical but similar in being a sleep-related evil spirit.)
Antonyms
guardian angel (A protective spiritual being in contrast to a harmful spirit like a mare.)
Themes
folklore
|religion
|emotions
Definition
An old story character: a bad spirit that sits on people when they sleep and gives them terrible dreams or makes them feel they cannot move.
In traditional European folklore, an evil or harmful spirit that sits on a sleeping person’s chest and causes bad dreams or a feeling of being crushed or unable to move.
Grammar
Dictionary form
mare
IPA
GB/mˈɛɹ/
US/mˈɛɹ/
Syllables & stress
mare (1 syllable)
Stress on 1st syllable (mare)
Word forms
Noun
- Base: mare
- Plural: mares
Word family
Expressions
mare's nest
1/mˈɛɹz nˈɛst/
idiom
false or confused discovery
A discovery or idea that seems important or special at first, but later shows to be wrong, not real, or just a big confusion.
Examples
- The journalist thought he had uncovered a huge scandal, but it turned out to be a mare's nest.
- Their new theory about the painting was a mare's nest and was quickly rejected by experts.
- After weeks of investigation, the committee realized they had been chasing a mare's nest.