Library / English Dictionary

CONFEDERATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who joins with another in carrying out some plan (especially an unethical or illegal plan)

Synonyms:

accomplice; confederate

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("confederate" is a kind of...):

assistant; help; helper; supporter (a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "confederate"):

decoy; steerer (a beguiler who leads someone into danger (usually as part of a plot))

Derivation:

confederate (form a confederation with; of nations)

confederate (form a group or unite)

confederate (united in a confederacy or league)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone who assists in a plot

Synonyms:

collaborator; confederate; henchman; partner in crime

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("confederate" is a kind of...):

accessary; accessory (someone who helps another person commit a crime)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A supporter of the Confederate States of America

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Confederate" is a kind of...):

Southerner (an American who lives in the South)

admirer; booster; champion; friend; protagonist; supporter (a person who backs a politician or a team etc.)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Confederate"):

Confederate soldier (a soldier in the Army of the Confederacy during the American Civil War)

Derivation:

Confederate (of or having to do with the southern Confederacy during the American Civil War)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or having to do with the southern Confederacy during the American Civil War

Example:

Confederate soldiers

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

southern (in or characteristic of a region of the United States south of (approximately) the Mason-Dixon line)

Derivation:

Confederate (a supporter of the Confederate States of America)

Sense 2

Meaning:

United in a confederacy or league

Synonyms:

allied; confederate; confederative

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

united (characterized by unity; being or joined into a single entity)

Derivation:

confederate (a person who joins with another in carrying out some plan (especially an unethical or illegal plan))

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Form a confederation with; of nations

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "confederate" is one way to...):

unify; unite (act in concert or unite in a common purpose or belief)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

confederacy (a union of political organizations)

confederate (a person who joins with another in carrying out some plan (especially an unethical or illegal plan))

confederation (the act of forming an alliance or confederation)

confederation (the state of being allied or confederated)

confederative (united in a confederacy or league)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Form a group or unite

Example:

The groups banded together

Synonyms:

band together; confederate

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "confederate" is one way to...):

unify; unite (act in concert or unite in a common purpose or belief)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

confederate (a person who joins with another in carrying out some plan (especially an unethical or illegal plan))

confederation (the act of forming an alliance or confederation)

confederation (a union of political organizations)

confederation (the state of being allied or confederated)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I have no doubt in my mind that both on the first and on the second occasion that young man penetrated to Blessington’s room, while his confederate, by an ingenious device, kept the doctor from interfering.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It indicates a confederate at the other end.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A confederate—and even that one glance had told me how dangerous a man that confederate was—had kept guard while the Professor had attacked me.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Now my theory all along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was responsible for her disappearance.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The letter, then, might either come from Hudson, the seaman, saying that he had betrayed the guilty secret which appeared to exist, or it might come from Beddoes, warning an old confederate that such a betrayal was imminent.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It is evidently an empty flat to which the confederate has access.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“He was able to fix up his own little hiding-place without any confederate—save, of course, that precious housekeeper of his, whom I should lose no time in adding to your bag, Lestrade.”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He has little time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Oberstein lived there with a single valet, who was probably a confederate entirely in his confidence.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He may have stolen it from Pietro, he may have been Pietro’s confederate, he may have been the go-between of Pietro and his sister.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)