date

date

I

date¹ S1 W1 /deɪt/ noun [countable]1.  DAY a particular day of the month or year, especially shown by a number:
    The date on the letter was 30th August 1962.
    What’s today’s date?
    date of
    What’s the date of the next meeting?
    You should apply at least 8 weeks before your date of departure.
    date for
    Have you set a date for the wedding yet?
2. at a later/future date formal at some time in the future
   SYN  later:
    The details will be agreed at a later date.
3. to date up to now:
    The cost of the work to date has been about £150 million.
    Her best performance to date was her third place at the World Junior Championships.
4.  ROMANTIC MEETING
  a. an occasion when you go out with someone that you like in a romantic way
    date with
    I’ve got a date with Andrea tomorrow night.
    I felt like a teenager going out on a first date. ⇨ blind date
  b. American English someone that you have a date with
    sb’s date
    Can I bring my date to the party?
5.  ARRANGEMENT TO MEET SOMEBODY a time arranged to meet someone, especially socially:
    Let’s make a date to come over and visit.
6.  FRUIT a sweet sticky brown fruit with a long hard seed inside
⇨ closing date, ⇨ expiry date at expiry(2), ⇨ out-of-date, sell-by date, up-to-date
     

COLLOCATIONS

■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + date
   ▪ the exact/precise date I can’t remember the exact date we moved into this house.
   ▪ the agreed date British English, agreed upon date American English (=one that people have agreed on) The work was not finished by the agreed date.
   ▪ the closing date (=the last day you can officially do something) The closing date for applications is April 30th.
   ▪ the due date (=the date by which something is due to happen) Payment must be made by the due date.
   ▪ the delivery date (=a date on which goods will be delivered) The delivery date should be around 23rd August.
   ▪ the publication date (=the date when something is published) We are aiming at a publication date of mid-November.
   ▪ the departure date (=the date when someone leaves) My departure date was only a few days away.
   ▪ the expiry date British English, expiration date American English (=a date on a product after which it cannot be used) Check the expiry date on your credit card.
   ▪ the sell-by date British English (=a date on a food product after which it should not be sold) Those yoghurts are a week past their sell-by date.
■ verbs
   ▪ decide on a date (=choose the date when something will happen) Have you decided on a date for the wedding yet?
   ▪ set/fix a date (=decide the date when something will happen) They haven’t set a date for the election yet.
■ phrases
   ▪ today’s date Don’t forget to put today’s date at the top of the letter.
   ▪ sb’s date of birth (also sb’s birth date) (=the day and year when someone was born) What’s your date of birth?
   ▪ the date of publication/issue/departure etc formal The insurance will only cover costs incurred on or after the date of departure.
     

THESAURUS

   ▪ meeting an occasion when people meet in order to discuss something: a business meeting. | Mr Bell is in a meeting. | The committee will hold another meeting Wednesday.
   ▪ conference an organized event, especially one that continues for several days, at which a lot of people meet to discuss a particular subject and hear speeches about it: Didn’t you give a talk at the conference last year? | a conference of women business leaders
   ▪ convention a large formal meeting of people who belong to a political party, or to an organization of people with the same interests: the Democratic Party Convention | a convention for Star Trek fans
   ▪ rally a large public meeting, especially one that is held outdoors to support or protest about something: There was a massive peace rally in London.
   ▪ summit a meeting between government leaders from important and powerful countries, to discuss important matters: A summit meeting of OPEC leaders was called to find a solution to the oil crisis. | next week’s economic summit
   ▪ caucus American English a local meeting of the members of a political party to choose people to represent them at a larger meeting, or to choose a candidate in an election: Obama won the Iowa caucus in 2007.
   ▪ teleconference/video conference a business meeting in which people in different places talk to each other using telephones or video equipment: The chairman held teleconferences with his senior managers.
   ▪ gathering/get-together a situation in which a group of people come together to meet, talk, and have drinks with each other, especially friends or family: We held a small family get-together to celebrate her birthday. | She arranged social gatherings in Kettering for young people on Saturday evenings.
   ▪ date an arrangement to meet someone who you are having, or hoping to have, a romantic relationship with: I think I might ask her out on a date.
   ▪ rendezvous a meeting where two people have arranged to meet at a particular time or place, often secretly: She arranged a rendezvous with him in the hotel bar.
   ▪ tryst literary a secret meeting between people who are having a romantic relationship: a good place for a moonlight tryst

II

date² S3 W3 verb1.  WRITE DATE  [transitive] to write or print the date on something:
    a newspaper dated November 23, 1963
    Make sure you sign and date it at the bottom.
2.  FIND AGE  [transitive] to find out when something old was made or formed:
    The rocks are dated by examining the fossils found in the same layer.
    radiocarbon dating
3.  OLD-FASHIONED  [intransitive] if clothing, art etc dates, it begins to look old-fashioned:
    His designs are so classic, they’ve hardly dated at all. ⇨ dated
4.  RELATIONSHIP  [intransitive and transitive] American English to have a romantic relationship with someone
   SYN  go out with:
    Is he still dating Sarah?
    Are Chris and Liz dating?
5.  SHOW SB’S AGE  [transitive] if something that you say, do, or wear dates you, it shows that you are fairly old:
    Yes, I remember the moon landings – that dates me, doesn’t it?
date from something (also date back to something) phrasal verb
  to have existed since a particular time in the past:
    The church dates from the 13th century.