marrymar‧ry /ˈmæri/ ●●● S1 W2 verb (past tense and past participle married, present participle marrying, third person singular marries) 
He married Bea in 1925. I’m going to ask her to marry me on St Valentine’s Day. She married young (=at a young age). People in higher social classes are more likely to marry late (=when they are older than is usual). Sophia had, in a sense, married beneath her (=married someone of a lower social class than her).RegisterIn everyday English, rather than saying that two people marry, people usually say that they get married.· My parents got married in 1986.GRAMMAR: Reciprocal verbsMarry is a reciprocal verb. This type of verb is used when saying that two or more people do something that involves both or all of them. It does not need to have an object: · Their parents did not want them to marry. In this sentence, marry is intransitive and does not have an object.You can also say: · His parents did not want them to marry each other.· His parents did not want him to marry her. In these sentences, marry is transitive.Grammar guide ‒ VERBS2[transitive] to perform the ceremony at which two people get married: The priest who married us was really nice.3[transitive] to find a husband or wife for one of your childrenmarry somebody to somebody She was determined to marry all of her daughters to rich men.4[transitive] (also marry up) formal to combine two different ideas, designs, tastes etc togethermarry something with/to something The building’s design marries a traditional style with modern materials.marry something and something He writes fiction that marries up realism and the supernatural.5not the marrying kind not the type of person who wants to get married: I’m just not the marrying kind.marry into something phrasal verb to join a family or social group by marrying someone who belongs to it: She married into a very wealthy family.marry somebody ↔ off phrasal verb to find a husband or wife for someone – used to show disapprovalmarry off to They married her off to the first young man who came along.
WORD ORIGINmarry
Origin:
1200-1300 French marier, from Latin maritare, from maritus ‘husband’VERB TABLE
marry
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | marry |
| he, she, it | marries | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | married |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have married |
| he, she, it | has married | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had married |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will marry |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have married |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am marrying |
| he, she, it | is marrying | |
| you, we, they | are marrying | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was marrying |
| you, we, they | were marrying | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been marrying |
| he, she, it | has been marrying | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been marrying |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be marrying |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been marrying |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Do you think your sister will ever marry?
- He converted to Catholicism so he could marry her.
- I married young - it was a mistake.
- Mum and Dad fell in love on the cruise and were married by the ship's captain.
- Rabbi Feingold will marry us.
- The only reason Carla married Henry was because she was pregnant.
- The priest who married us forgot his lines during the ceremony.
- Will you marry me?
- He married and divorced Ava Gardner.
- He told me to marry Victor Cousin.
- In 1684 he married Anne, daughter of the duke of Orleans, in a typical dynastic arrangement.
- Last month her parents decided that she must marry Tajammul, whom she knew but did not like.
- She said the chances of siblings marrying are minuscule if the number of sperm donations are kept low.
- They involve men and women who have previously married and whose relationships have broken down.
- When Miss Temple marries, Jane feels the necessity of trying something new and advertises for a position as a governess.
Longman Language Activatorto get married
to officially become husband and wife: · Jenny and Tom were very young when they got married.· My daughter's getting married in July.get married to: · Is he getting married to Sophie at last?
to get married to someone: · Will you marry me?· The only reason Carla married Henry was because she was pregnant.· Do you think your sister will ever marry?marry young: · I married young - it was a mistake.
to marry another person after a previous marriage has finished, or marry the same person again: · It was a pity our father never remarried after our mother's death.· Elizabeth Taylor remarried Richard Burton after they had divorced years earlier.
to secretly leave your parents' home in order to get married, especially without your parents' approval or permission: · If my father won't agree to the marriage, we'll just have to elope.elope with: · Mary fell in love with Shelley and eloped with him to the Continent in 1814.
if you marry into a family or a social class, you marry someone who belongs to it, and become part of it yourself: · Stefan would like to marry into a family just like his own.· the story of a poor Irish girl who marries into New York societymarry into money (=marry someone who is rich or whose family is rich): · The only way Steven will ever be successful is if he marries into money.
a relationship in which people are married the relationship between two people who are married: · She already has two children from a previous marriage.· Do you think marriage is still important to young people?· Over a third of all marriages now end in divorce.· What's the secret of a successful marriage?first/second etc marriage: · After a disastrous first marriage to a young soldier, Kylie didn't feel like rushing into another relationship.
formal the state of being married: · a couple bound in the state of holy matrimony
to be someone's husband or wife: · My uncle and his wife were married for 65 years.· Is she married?
to ask someone to marry you · Don't tell anyone, but Timothy has asked me to marry him.· Are you asking me to marry you?
formal to ask someone to marry you: · Did he get down on one knee to propose?propose to: · I thought he was going to propose to me, but in fact he just wanted to borrow some money.
informal to ask someone to marry you: · Jane was delighted when Matt eventually popped the question.
when you agree to get married if two people are engaged , they have agreed to get married to each other at some time in the future: · Todd and Ellen have been engaged for about 3 months now.engaged to: · He's engaged to Paul's sister.get engaged (=become engaged): · We got engaged at Christmas.engaged to be married: · You'll be glad to hear that Ralph and I, with my father's consent, are engaged to be married.
an agreement by two people to get married at some time in the future: announce your engagement (=tell everyone that you are going to get married): · Glennis and John announced their engagement yesterday.break off your engagement (=say that you do not want to be engaged any more): · Anita broke off her engagement when she found out that Paulo had been seeing another woman.engagement ring: · Has he bought you an engagement ring yet?
also fix/name the day to decide on the exact day for the official marriage ceremony: · Lizzie and George have finally fixed a day for their marriage.· Have the two of you set a date yet?
to find a husband or wife for someone to find a husband or wife for your child, especially your daughter, because this is convenient for you: marry somebody off: · If they couldn't marry Ellen off before her 21st birthday, nobody would marry her.marry off somebody: · My uncle married off my cousin when she was 16.marry somebody off to somebody: · Because of the scandal Roberta was married off to a stranger and sent away from Rome.
a marriage in which the parents choose a husband or wife for their child, especially because this is the custom in their society: · Vikram's parents have organized an arranged marriage for him in India but he already has a girlfriend here.· In an arranged marriage the husband often insists that the wife brings a dowry.
the person you are going to marry the man ( fiancé ) or woman ( fiancée ) that you are going to get married to: · I'd like you to meet Janice, my fiancée.· She didn't know Henry was Marie's fiancé.
a woman or man who is soon going to be married, used especially when you are talking about the plans for the wedding ceremony: · The magazine is aimed mainly at brides-to-be.· It's understandable if the husband-to-be feels nervous before the ceremony.
ceremonies, celebrations etc when people get married an official ceremony at which two people get married, especially a religious ceremony: · Mom always cries at weddings.· After the wedding the bride and groom went straight to the airport for their flight to Fiji.white wedding British (=a marriage ceremony in a church in which the woman wears a white dress): · Are you going to have a traditional white wedding?wedding ring/ceremony/invitation etc: · Have you sent out the wedding invitations yet?
the ceremony at which two people are legally married, whether it involves religion or not: · City Hall keeps a record of all the births, deaths and marriages in the county.· The marriage took place without the bride's parents' consent.marriage certificate/licence: · We had to bring our marriage certificate to prove that we are married.
an event that follows a wedding ceremony in which there is a meal, speeches, and sometimes dancing: · We had our wedding reception in a local hotel.· I went to the church service, but not to the reception.
a holiday that two people go on when they have just got married: · We're thinking of going to Barbados for our honeymoon.on (your) honeymoon: · We came to Paris on our honeymoon, and fell in love with the place.honeymoon couple: · The Maldives is a popular destination for honeymoon couples.
British /bachelor party, also stag party American a party for a man and his male friends just before he gets married: · It's the best man's job to arrange the groom's stag night.· This is the club where John F. Kennedy had his bachelor party.
American a party for a woman and her female friends just before she gets married, when her friends give her gifts: · Melissa ended up getting three blenders at her bridal shower.
British a party for a woman and her female friends just before she gets married: · It's traditional to wear a silly hat on your hen night.
to perform a marriage ceremony · The priest who married us forgot his lines during the ceremony.· Mum and Dad fell in love on the cruise and were married by the ship's captain.
the people in a wedding the woman who is getting married: · Everyone turned around as the bride entered the church.· Teenage brides are twice as likely to end up being divorced as women who marry later.· He took his young bride to live on the ranch in Wyoming.
the man who is getting married: · It is traditional for the groom to buy presents for the bridesmaids.· Can I take a photograph of the bride and groom?
informal a man and a woman who have just got married: · I'd like to propose a toast to the happy couple.· Everyone waved goodbye as the happy couple drove away.
one of the women who help the bride on her wedding day, and who stand with her during the ceremony: · My three sisters were bridesmaids for me.
the chief man who helps the groom on his wedding day, and who stands with him during the ceremony: · I was honoured that he asked me to be his best man.
British /matron of honor American the chief married woman who helps the bride on the day of her wedding, and who stands with her during the ceremony: · I asked my older sister, Louise, to be my matron of honor.
British /maid of honor American the chief unmarried woman who helps the bride on the day of her wedding and who stands with her during the ceremony: · Leslie couldn't decide which of her college friends she wanted for her maid of honor.
American one of the men who help the groom on his wedding day, and who stand with him during the ceremony: · We need one groomsman for each bridesmaid.
the people who are married two people who are married to each other, or who are having a romantic relationship: · An elderly couple live next door.· They're a nice couple, aren't they?married couple: · Shirley and Bob are a young married couple with two small children.
a man and woman who have recently married: · Everyone left at about midnight, leaving the newlyweds alone at last.· The hotel seemed to be full of newlyweds.
formal a married couple: as man and wife: · Terry and Meena aren't married but they live together as man and wife.pronounce somebody man and wife (=say that two people are officially married): · Mom burst into tears as the minister pronounced us man and wife.
· Are you married or single?· We've been married for 25 years.married to · Geraldine was married to the richest man in France and still pretended she couldn't afford a new outfit.happily married · Richard is happily married with two young children.
the woman that a man is married to: · My wife's career is very important to her.· Have you met the Ambassador's wife?first/second etc wife: · He remarried after his first wife died of cancer.
the man that a woman is married to: · I don't like Francesca's husband very much.· How many husbands would stay at home and take care of the children while their wife goes out to work?first/second etc husband: · Gary's her second husband.
formal the man or woman that someone is married to - use this in legal or official contexts: · You may choose to pay income tax jointly or separately from your spouse.
the person that someone lives with in a romantic relationship - use this whether they are married or not: · Have you met my partner, Ray?· The office party is on Friday, but partners aren't invited.
relating to people who are married: married name (=the name a woman uses after she is married, if she has changed her name to her husband's name) · Is Robertson your married name?married life (=your life as a married person) · After thirty-two years of married life Barbara had no illusions left.
: marital problems/violence/difficulties/breakdown (=problems etc between people who are married) · The police have the power to stop people holding their marital disputes in public.marital bliss (=an extremely happy marriage) · It wasn't what you would call marital bliss, but it was a good, solid marriage.· Many wives do not report acts of marital violence to the police.marital status formal (=whether or not someone is married - used on official forms) · Age, sex and marital status all affect earnings and income.
formal belonging to or concerning a man and a woman who are married - used in legal or official contexts: the matrimonial home: · In the divorce proceedings, Marianne agreed to give up all rights to the matrimonial home.a matrimonial conflict/dispute: · In any matrimonial conflict, it is always the children who suffer most.
not married · He told her he wasn't married, but he was lying.· Jeff and Paula have two children, but they're not actually married.
someone who is single is not married or is not in a permanent romantic relationship with anyone: · Please fill in the section on the form that asks if you're single, married or divorced.· At my age it's difficult to meet single women.single parent: · Many of the children at the school come from single parent families.single mother: · I'm a single mother, so I don't have much money.
an unmarried person is someone who has never been married: · Mrs Travis has three unmarried sons.unmarried mother: · Unmarried mothers can usually receive help from the State or Federal governments.
a man who has never been married: · Ben was the only bachelor among all the married couples and felt quite out of place.somebody's bachelor days: · Now that Derek's bachelor days were over he'd have to start behaving in a more responsible manner.bachelor flat: · His home had the look of a bachelor flat - clean but empty.
a word meaning a woman who has never married, especially a woman who is no longer young, which some people now think is offensive: · Both my father's sisters were spinsters.spinster aunt/sister/lady etc: · Sally lives with her mother and her spinster aunt.
rich, attractive, and not married, and therefore very desirable as a husband or wife: · His father had suggested several eligible middle class girls to him.eligible bachelor: · The world saw Jack as a rich eligible bachelor, but really he was very shy.
not married any more someone who is divorced has officially ended their marriage: · He's living with a divorced woman and her two children.· Yes, she used to be married, but she's been divorced since last year.get divorced (=officially end your marriage): · They got divorced only three years after they got married.
the man or woman that you used to be married to before getting divorced: · His ex-wife never lets him see the children.
if a husband and wife are separated , they do not live with each other, because they are not happy together any more, but they are not divorced: · We're not divorced, but we've been separated for six months.
a woman whose husband has died and who has not married again: · Mr Jarvis died yesterday, leaving a widow and four children.· Mourners at the funeral included Paul's widow, Sarah Jones.
a man whose wife has died and who has not married again: · Mr Wright, a widower with one son and two grandchildren, made his first parachute jump yesterday.
if someone is widowed , their wife or husband has died and they have not married again: · Joyce had come to Tucson to live with a recently widowed aunt.
to become rich · I'm trying to think of a way to get rich.get rich (by) doing something · Mr Askin got rich selling second hand cars.get rich quick · The company promised its sales team that, if they worked hard enough, they would get rich quick.
also make a bomb British informal to become very rich by earning or winning a lot of money: · If you're a good salesman you can make a bomb, but you have to work hard.· You shouldn't have sold your shares. You could have made a bundle.make a fortune etc (by) doing something: · Richard made a fortune breeding racehorses.
to become rich, especially when you are from a poor family - used especially in newspapers: · He's just a poor country boy who made good in the city.· Ian thinks that just because he made good, everybody else can too.
to become rich by marrying a rich person: · If you don't have any yourself, it's a pretty smart move to marry into money!
to become very rich after being extremely poor: · Although he came from a poor family, he managed to go from rags to riches.
if you say that someone is made for life or is set up for life , you mean they are extremely successful and so rich that they do not need to work any more: · Now he's got a contract to advertise sports clothing he'll be made for life.· Sylvester Stallone need never make another movie. He's already set up for life.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY She married young (=at a young age). People in higher social classes are more likely to marry late (=when they are older than is usual). Sophia had, in a sense, married beneath her (=married someone of a lower social class than her).COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES His mother felt he was marrying beneath him (=marrying someone who was not good enough). She is engaged to be married. I’m a happily married man. Most of the officers live in married quarters (=houses where soldiers live with their wives).COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
She married young (=at a young age). People in higher social classes are more likely to marry late (=when they are older than is usual). Sophia had, in a sense, married beneath her (=married someone of a lower social class than her).· She was 28 – long past the usual marrying age.
His mother felt he was marrying beneath him (=marrying someone who was not good enough).· I’d like to get married in a church.
· Under the new rules, a married couple will now receive £20 a week extra.
(=having married not long ago)· Many newly married couples cannot afford to buy their own homes.
She is engaged to be married. I’m a happily married man. Most of the officers live in married quarters (=houses where soldiers live with their wives).· What you've got to do is to get her to marry again.· The rabbi told Minna that she would have to wait ninety days before she could be married again.· I shouldn't think Helen would want to get married again.· Eventually he married again, this time the daughter of a professor.· Then she married again, had three more sons - and began picking on her oldest.· Of course there was always the chance she could marry again.· But, with the help of the changing law, a divorce is eventually granted, which allows him to marry again.
· He has grown-up children from that, and is now happily married for a second time with a young son, Jamie.· Both single people and unhappily married people report poorer health than peo-ple who are happily married or partnered.· The catch is these two are more or less happily married -- to other people.· This struck me as one of those existential moments in the life of a happily married woman.· He was a phys ed teacher, and happily married, with two young daughters.· He was a happily married man.· I think it made happily married men review their vows.· When the princess saw him, she loved him too, and they were very happily married.
· I will never marry again, said Alix.· He was never married and passed away in 1921.· That's why I've never married.· She never married or went anywhere even on her days off.· Women who have never married are over-represented among the very elderly.· I was convinced I would never have a meaningful date, never marry, never have children.· She knew he'd never married.· They are married, divorced, separated, widowed, and never married.
NOUN· Yes, and why hadn't that occurred to her before - that he might be married with children?· One parish had chosen him because he was unmarried but later wished he were married with children.· And anyway, in other religions, priests married and had children.· Alfred, a gang leader, had never been to college and was already married with a child on the way.· He is married with three children and lives at Seaton Carew.· I never thought I would find love or marry or have children.· Some were married and had children.
· They were a devoted couple, marrying after a teenage romance.· Rachel dies of a mysterious illness before the couple can marry.· The couple plan to marry next year.· That meant taking Pre-Cana classes, a course of instruction for all couples who wanted to marry within the Church.· The couple had been married nine years.· None the less the young couple eventually married, which in the face of so much Glover resistance undoubtedly took some strength and resolve.· For instance, if couples are not married they are asked not to share huts.· The couple were formally married on 7 May at Chambery, and on 20 May made their ceremonial entry into Turin.
· The family will be celebrating again in June when one of his daughters gets married.· Nick tossed three bags of gold through the kitchen window, and the three daughters married Soon after.· His wife was dead, his two daughters raised and married, by the time Nina and Maria arrived in 1742.· He died in 1574, leaving the property to his illegitimate daughter Hester, who married Lord Wooton.· This daughter of an innkeeper married Constantius, the Roman general, in 270.· He and his wife have a daughter married to a retained firefighter at Masham.· A poor son is often forced to remain single, but a poor daughter can marry a rich man.
· Some people marry into families rather than commit themselves to a partner.· Dorothy had always wanted to be married and have a family.· Many left to marry and raise families.· At times, he was saddened by never having married and raised a family of his own.· And so when a son marries, his family may, with reason, mourn the dissolution of the way things were.· He had never married and had no family or, at least, no family with whom he was in touch.
· He had heard of girls marrying a father substitute, but he had not met one before.· The stepmother: Crude, rude, and obnoxious, she married the father after his wife passed away.· By the time I turned seventeen, I had already been married to her father for two years.· She married my father in 1932, in the depths of the Depression.· Why shouldn't I marry their precious father?· This is when they were first married, and my father went out and joined a golf club.
· She's a sexy, cheerful, lively and uninhibited girl who married the wrong man.· Percilla the Monkey Girl married the Alligator Man.· Most girls just get married once a year and have another baby.· The years passed quickly, and soon it was time for the little girl to marry.· After Christmas, Mona, the one girl who had not married, came every weekend from Dublin.· He had heard of girls marrying a father substitute, but he had not met one before.· Without following this Hindu custom, it would be difficult to get the girls married.
· He thought she would marry him when her husband died.· Marion Witherspoon had married her late husband when she was twenty or twenty-one.· Chatman had a tumor removed 12 years ago, six years before she married her husband, Dennis.· Women are working more across the board, but the biggest increase has come from women married to higher-earning husbands.· In 1973 she married her present husband, Taufik Kiemas, a well-connected businessman who owns a string of gas stations.· I sold papers until I was 17, then I married my husband.
· He had gone for ever, to be replaced by the man she had really married, the ambitious and powerful Damian Flint.· Maybe she came from a good family, which back home was the reason men married plain, buck-toothed women.· Well-educated men and women are marrying each other, and these well-educated wives are carrying on working.· And if that man is married and a Catholic, his political career will wither and die.· She had married not just the man, she had married his job, and all that it involved.· There are only sixty-five men for every 100 women in that group, and two thirds of the men are already married!· There are three men who want to marry Bathsheba.
· For Davey ended up marrying Bret's sister Diana.· But he accepted all that when he married Corinne Roosevelt, sister of the future president.· But when she turned him down he married her sister instead.· But she married and my sister took her place.· Forcing her into a loveless marriage the same way he's forcing you pair into marrying the Costello sisters.· His younger brother James married Jessie's sister.· Powell married Violet Packenham, sister of Lord Longford, in 1934 after a brief acquaintanceship.
· If I had married and had a son, I reasoned to myself, that boy would be about Tom's age.· The toad: Ugly; he wanted Thumbelina to marry his son.· An additional 22, 000 went to married sons and daughters and their spouses and children.· The Wilders have one daughter about to get married and a son about to graduate from high school.· She was kidnapped by an ugly toad who wanted her to marry his son.
· Only twenty months later, John married his second wife Jennie.· I married my wife in 1939.· He had married his second wife Maud by no later than Michaelmas term 1245.· A woman is in love with a married man, whose wife is in a permanent coma.· A Circuit Judge since 1986, he married his wife Jane 37 years ago.· He has been married to his wife, Janet, for more than 25 years and is the grandfather of three.· The Marquess married his wife Becky in 1990 but he now lives apart from her and their son.· Sir Hugo marries and his wife bears three girls, but Deronda holds no resentment toward them.
· Well-educated men and women are marrying each other, and these well-educated wives are carrying on working.· Emphatically for foreign women who marry local bachelors.· Women are working more across the board, but the biggest increase has come from women married to higher-earning husbands.· Helen Leeder, who took the class last year, said most students were young women either recently married or considering marriage.· Disillusioned with the ruthlessly ambitious woman he had married, Richard had long ago turned his back on her.· Many women are reluctant to marry.· Seventy-four percent of women who were married in 1900-9 who reached two children went on to have a third or more.· In other words, men tended to seek polygamy, whereas women strove to marry upward with men of high status.
· Heated tempers George and Helen have been married forty-five years.· I married Lida when I was twenty-two, and we were married twenty-one years.· We married two years later and Anthony and Georgina Andrews were the only showbusiness guests.· We been married forty-three years now, and I knowed she was sick.· The couple had been married nine years.· He married Guilbert two years later.· She was born when they had been married a few years.· She served with him as co-president of the Dension University student government; they have been married for 39 years.
VERB· You ask me to marry you, perhaps first to seduce you.· He told her what had happened and asked her to marry him.· When I phoned Glyn, he asked me to marry him.· Deronda calls on Mirah to ask her to marry him, laying his gloves and diamond ring on a table.· I told Bill in Paris I was going to ask her to marry me.· Soon enough, Ferdinand was professing his love and asking her to marry him.· But when he had asked her to marry him, she had declined out of nothing more than pique.· And when you asked if I was married, I lied to you.
· A bachelor of nearly fifty decides to marry.· They fall in love and decide to marry.· Peter and I decided to get married straightaway.· Still, she said, she would be nervous if her son decided to marry a Druitt girl.· This had occurred due to these latter two persons deciding to marry one another and leave the profession.· But the prince was kind, and Rapunzel decided she wanted to marry him.· I asked him why he had decided to marry me.· Ever since Polly had decided to get married, I had been making her a quilt.
· Depending upon the social circles in which the young adult moves there will be more or less pressure towards getting married.· C., and Paris, to move to his home town of Perry, Ga., after getting married.· The way I see it, we can't get married if I stay here.· The beast turned back into a man and he and the woman got married.· Then he had started on again about getting married and giving up her job.· Isabel was thinking about getting married to some one else.· Some people get married to the wrong person simply because they like the idea of the big day.· I had hardly dated, and the next thing I knew I was getting married.
· I shouldn't think Helen would want to get married again.· The mole: Handsome and well dressed as moles go; he wanted to marry Thumbelina.· She certainly doesn't want to marry me.· That meant taking Pre-Cana classes, a course of instruction for all couples who wanted to marry within the Church.· There are three men who want to marry Bathsheba.· Not that I want to get married, or do any of that conventional trip, you understand.· But did he want to marry Elaine?· He wanted to marry me this summer when it happened.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
- It was obvious to everybody in Rome that he had to marry money.
WORD FAMILYnounmarriageremarriageadjectivemarried ≠ unmarriedmarriageableverbmarryremarry
1[intransitive, transitive] if you marry someone, you become their husband or wife: He married Bea in 1925. I’m going to ask her to marry me on St Valentine’s Day. She married young (=at a young age). People in higher social classes are more likely to marry late (=when they are older than is usual). Sophia had, in a sense, married beneath her (=married someone of a lower social class than her).RegisterIn everyday English, rather than saying that two people marry, people usually say that they get married.· My parents got married in 1986.GRAMMAR: Reciprocal verbsMarry is a reciprocal verb. This type of verb is used when saying that two or more people do something that involves both or all of them. It does not need to have an object: · Their parents did not want them to marry. In this sentence, marry is intransitive and does not have an object.You can also say: · His parents did not want them to marry each other.· His parents did not want him to marry her. In these sentences, marry is transitive.Grammar guide ‒ VERBS2[transitive] to perform the ceremony at which two people get married: The priest who married us was really nice.3[transitive] to find a husband or wife for one of your childrenmarry somebody to somebody She was determined to marry all of her daughters to rich men.4[transitive] (also marry up) formal to combine two different ideas, designs, tastes etc togethermarry something with/to something The building’s design marries a traditional style with modern materials.marry something and something He writes fiction that marries up realism and the supernatural.5not the marrying kind not the type of person who wants to get married: I’m just not the marrying kind.marry into something phrasal verb to join a family or social group by marrying someone who belongs to it: She married into a very wealthy family.marry somebody ↔ off phrasal verb to find a husband or wife for someone – used to show disapprovalmarry off to They married her off to the first young man who came along.