From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfatherfa‧ther1 /ˈfɑːðə $ -ər/ ●●● S1 W1 noun [countable] 1 parentSSFFATHER 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 → Father3 → fathers4 → Father5 → the father of something6 → from father to son7 → like father like son8 → a bit of how’s your father → city fathers, founding fatherTHESAURUSfather a male parentMy father’s a doctor.He’s a father of three.dad informal used when talking to your father, or about someone’s fatherCan I borrow your car, Dad?Her dad retired ten years ago.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 childrenWhere’s your daddy?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 fatherI helped Pop fix the gate this morning.Can I help, Pa?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 fatherPapa had forbidden me to go.She saw her papa’s face change at this news. somebody’s old man informal someone’s father – used when talking about him in a way that is not very respectfulHis 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 parentHer stepfather is really nice.
Examples from the Corpus
father• Larry Blake, a father of three children, was shot dead outside his home last night.• Jerome pocketed the smokes from his father.• When his father died, Marshall ventured with two partners into yarn manufacture by the new process of spinning flax by machinery.• Pianto has been working with his father for 21 years.• His father emphasized strenuous effort to achieve goals and total obedience to those in authority, and he ranted about corrupt politicians.• My respects to you, and my father.• Now that my father is dead, I must be old Mr Scott, Adam wanted to tell him.• My father's a doctor.• In 1969 there were three generations of the Holmes family taking part, father, son and grandson.• He's now the proud father of a three week old baby girl.• Agnes, do not fight your father over this money.a father of two/three/four etc• Hadley, 35, a father of two from Great Barr, Birmingham, denied four indecent assaults but was found guilty.• Steven Hurley, 41, a father of three from Barnsley, has tongue cancer that is now inoperable.• Philip Appleby, 44, a father of three from Wylam, Northumberland, was the unanimous choice of the constituency party.• Speaking as a father of three, this sounds absolutely perfect but I do have one worry.• In the end, he is a father of two daughters and the husband of a former debutante.• Equally disenchanted with bilingual education is Agustin Mendoza, a father of two who works as a baker in Oakland.• But Philip, a father of three, died before an ambulance arrived.• The 34-year-old Northumbria force officer was a father of two from Sunderland.FatherFathera priest, especially in the Roman Catholic Church I have sinned, Father. Father Devlin → Holy Father → fatherExamples from the Corpus
Father• Heavenly Father, please forgive us our sins.• Have you met Father Simmons?FatherFatherRRCa way of talking to or talking about God, used in the Christian religion our Heavenly Father → fatherExamples from the Corpus
Heavenly Father• Amen Heavenly Father, we pray for the talks about peace in the Middle East.• The Umpire - it had to be Heavenly Father!• But Heavenly Father is out of earshot.• What has happened is nothing short of a miracle; Heavenly Father has heard our prayers.• Tell Heavenly Father what was in your heart of hearts.• I thank Heavenly Father, for it is the only escape I can think of.• In a vision given to one of his followers, the Heavenly Father stated that the Bible contained errors.fatherfather2 verb [transitive] 1 BABY/HAVE A BABYto become the father of a child by making a woman pregnant Hodgkins fathered seven children.2 START something/MAKE something START formal to start an important new idea or system Bevan fathered the concept of the National Health Service. → father something on somebody→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
father• Taylor denies fathering her 4-month-old son.• Elephant seals are so severely sieved that in each generation a handful of males father all the offspring.• An apparent suicide note found in the house on the day she died claimed the child had been fathered by another man.• Bill was told he would never be able to father children.• He fathered eight daughters and three sons.• All the portraits in this book show men who father from the heart, but none more than this one.• He fathered nine children with four women and the unpaid amounts totaled $ 25,000.• In other versions, Zeus rapes Demeter and fathers Persephone.• I do not know how I can have fathered such children.• Roosevelt fathered the concept of Social Security.• Unfortunately, Edison was not himself a musician, and the technology he fathered was never used for mass-producing serious musical records.Origin father1 Old English fæder 