mismatchn.
/ˈmɪsmatʃ/, U.S. /ˈmɪsˌmætʃ/ a. A bad match; a failure to correspond or match, a discrepancy. Also as a mass noun: failure to match.
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the world > relative properties > order > disorder > disharmony or incongruity > unsuitability or inappropriateness > [noun] > mismatching > instance of
mismatch1606
misconjunction1858
mismatchment1858
1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 41 Mis-Matches taxt.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa IV. xiv. 65 See you not..the mismatch that there is in our minds?
1839 D. P. Thompson Green Mountain Boys I. xv. 239 Far be it from me ever to interfere with matches—matches that are truly such. But mis-matches, patched up on earth..I should feel myself honored in being the instrument of breaking.
1883 Harper's Mag. Mar. 538/1 The saucer a mismatch.
1948 H. A. Leiter in L. D. Smullin & C. G. Montgomery Microwave Duplexers ix. 378 Lossy cables are used..in order to isolate the oscillator from effects of mismatch in the unit under test.
1980 Amer. Speech 55 215 There is a mismatch between the title of the work and its contents.
1999 New Scientist 6 Mar. (Bear Essentials Suppl.) 13/1 The cost of a mating mismatch will be much greater to a monandrous female than to a polyandrous female.
b. spec. An unequal or unfair sporting contest.
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society > leisure > sport > match or competition > [noun] > types of
all comersc1450
after-gamea1500
fore-game1594
revenge1616
plate1639
set-to1743
return match1753
bye1754
scrub-race1791
anybody's game (also race, match)1826
return1834
barney1843
bonspiel1858
handicap1861
pennant1865
home-and-home1868
benefit match1871
run-off1873
international1877
American tournament1878
Grand Prix1879
single1884
friendly1885
all-comers1889
pair1890
championship1893
round robin1894
replay1895
Olympiad1896
junior varsity1902
lightning tournament1903
rematch1903
road trip1903
pickup1905
freestyle1906
marathon1908
test1908
Derby1909
scrimmage1910
eliminator1911
twosome1911
triala1914
quadrangular1916
slug-fest1916
varsity match1921
needle contest1922
curtain jerker1923
needle match1923
open1926
needle fight1927
knock-out1928
shirt1930
masters1933
pro-amateur1934
tune-up1934
World Cup1934
pro-am1937
state1941
sizzler1942
runathon1943
mismatch1954
run-out1955
match-up1959
squeaker1961
triple-header1961
Super Bowl1967
invitational1968
needle game1970
major1976
slobberknocker1986
1954 F. C. Avis Boxing Ref. Dict. 71 Mismatch, a contest between two boxers of very different standards of ability.
1961 Times 21 Nov. 3/3 There had been suggestions that this [sc. a boxing match] had been a mismatch.
1987 Toronto Star (Nexis) 13 May e4 The boys' softball game between Cardinal Newman Knights and Smith Academy yesterday was one of those unfortunate mismatches. The Knights..hit three home runs in a 17-2 romp.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
mismatchv.
/ˌmɪsˈmatʃ/, U.S. /ˌmɪsˈmætʃ/ transitive. To match (in various senses) badly, unsuitably, or incorrectly. In passive: to be ill-matched.Formerly used esp. with reference to marriage.
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the world > relative properties > order > disorder > disharmony or incongruity > unsuitability or inappropriateness > not to suit [verb (transitive)] > make unsuitable > mismatch
misjoin1540
mismatch1582
dismatch1605
misally1697
unmate1810
mismarry1892
1582 R. Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elementarie xi. 57 I find honest mens diligence verie sore mismatched, with an intricate waie and most wearisom to themselues.
1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love v. v. sig. Lv Cup... I am studying how to match them. Mer. How too mismatch them, were harder. View more context for this quotation
1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (ii. 4) 516 How preposterous and mis-match'd is an erected countenance, and a groueling spirit.
1678 J. Dryden All for Love iv. 58 Sure that Face Was meant for honesty, but Heav'n mis-match'd it.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture II. 8/1 If the Members be..not mismatcht nor unsightly.
1749 W. Hawkins Henry & Rosamond ii. i. 18 Fate wrongly join'd us, and mismatch'd our Hearts.
1848 J. H. Newman Loss & Gain 73 I have heard persons mentioned, but, if I tried, I think I should, in some cases mismatch names and opinions.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1426/2 The belts are of different lengths, so as to mismatch the sections as they are revolved.
1972 Physics Bull. May 268/3 Many science departments..have tended also to inculcate other attitudes that mismatch many graduates for the work that they might be best fitted to do.
1985 G. Ehrlich Solace Open Spaces 3 They've skied in Jackson Hole, a place Wyomingites acknowledge uncomfortably because its green beauty and chic affluence are mismatched with the rest of the state.
Derivatives
misˈmatching n. and adj.
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society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > a marriage > [noun] > unsuitable
mismatching1643
mismarriage1817
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > disharmony or incongruity > unsuitability or inappropriateness > [noun] > mismatching
mismatching1643
dismatchment1847
mismating1857
1643 J. Milton Doctr. Divorce 18 One example of mis-matching with an Infidell.
1850 H. Taylor Virgin Widow (1875) ii. i. 25 Shall it not touch us with some careful thoughts as to the bestowing of her in marriage. I think, Sir, with so much beauty there were no little danger in the mismatching of her.
1941 Wireless World July 176/1 In essence, the cathode-follower stage is a device to avoid mismatching.
1986 Times Lit. Suppl. 6 June 620/2 In John Caird's excellent production one all but forgets about this mismatching.
1992 B. Adams Brought to Book 1 I'm five foot eight and a half inches tall with dark cropped hair..and mismatching eyes.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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