marry
/ˈmæri/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈmæri/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈmer-ē ˈma-rē/ (ame, mw) · /ˈmær.i/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈmer.i/ (ame, ipa)
marry — verb
1. to take someone as your husband or wife in a legal or religious ceremony, or to
to take someone as your husband or wife in a legal or religious ceremony, or to enter into such a relationship.
Nala and Gabriel plan to marry next spring in a small garden ceremony near his home.
plan to marry + time + location details
After five years together, Lien asked her partner to marry her during a weekend trip to the mountains.
ask someone to marry + prepositional phrase
My great-grandparents married in 1948, just three years after the war ended in their village.
The Watanabe family invited everyone when their eldest son married a nurse from the local clinic.
Benjamin never planned to marry before thirty, but meeting Eleni at a book fair changed his mind.
- get married
more common in everyday conversation; 'marry' can sound slightly formal or literary
- wed
formal or poetic; common in newspaper headlines and wedding invitations
- tie the knot
informal idiom; friendly and conversational
文法句型
marry + person (transitive)
marry (intransitive, no object)
get married to + person
be married to + person (state)
用法筆記
In everyday speech, 'get married' is more common than 'marry' as a verb. Use 'marry' without an object to describe the event generally: 'They married in April.' Use 'get married to' when introducing the partner: 'She got married to a doctor.' The stative form 'be married to' describes the ongoing state: 'He has been married to Rosa for twenty years.'
常見錯誤
2. to conduct the official ceremony that makes two people husband and wife, as a pr
to conduct the official ceremony that makes two people husband and wife, as a priest, judge, or other authorized person.
Judge Ramón agreed to marry Christopher and Nellie at the courthouse on Friday afternoon.
marry + person1 and person2 as officiant
The village priest has married three generations of the Sato family in the same wooden chapel.
present perfect showing lifetime experience
Since the new law passed, the mayor can now marry couples in the town hall on weekends.
Selim asked his aunt, a licensed celebrant, to marry him and his fiancée in the family garden.
- unite
formal and poetic; often used in the wedding ceremony text itself
- join in matrimony
very formal; used in traditional religious ceremonies
文法句型
marry + two people (as officiant)
用法筆記
This sense is used only for the person performing the ceremony, not for the couple getting married. The object is either the couple ('marry a couple') or each person individually ('marry two people'). The subject is always someone with legal or religious authority to conduct weddings.
3. to bring two different qualities, features, or ideas together so that they work
to bring two different qualities, features, or ideas together so that they work well as one unit — for example, a design that marries old craft traditions with modern technology.
Hiro's recipe marries the spicy flavours of Thai street food with fresh herbs from Japanese cooking.
marry + noun + with + noun — combining ideas/qualities
The new park marries natural woodland with carefully designed playgrounds and running tracks for all ages.
Her first novel marries a tense crime plot with a tender love story set during a civil war.
This chair design marries traditional hand-carved wood with lightweight metal legs that make it easy to move.
- separate
to keep things apart rather than joining them
文法句型
marry + noun + with/to + noun (abstract qualities)
用法筆記
Subject is usually a creation or product (design, building, film, dish, style). The pattern is almost always 'marry [thing A] with [thing B]' where A and B are different in nature. Less commonly 'marry [thing A] to [thing B]'. This sense is more common in written reviews, criticism, and formal descriptions than in everyday speech.
常見錯誤
4. to choose a spouse for someone else, most often for your own child, by selecting
to choose a spouse for someone else, most often for your own child, by selecting or arranging a suitable partner.
In some communities, parents still marry their daughters to men chosen by the extended family elders.
marry + daughter + to + person — arranged marriage pattern
The old king tried to marry his son to a neighbouring princess to secure peace between the two lands.
try to marry + son + to + person — strategic match
Ishaan's grandmother was married at sixteen to a man her parents had chosen for her.
The matchmaker spent years trying to marry off all five daughters of the Chen family.
- marry off
phrasal verb; often implies the arrangement is done by the family, may carry a slightly negative tone
文法句型
marry + person + to + person (arranged)
用法筆記
Frequently used in the passive ('she was married to a businessman') or with the structure 'marry someone off to someone'. In modern usage, this sense often describes historical or traditional practices rather than current ones, unless discussing cultures where arranged marriages are still common.
常見錯誤
marry — exclamation
1. a very old-fashioned mild exclamation used to show surprise, shock, or strong fe
a very old-fashioned mild exclamation used to show surprise, shock, or strong feeling, now only found in historical novels or plays.
Marry! I did not expect to find you here at this hour, good sir.
standalone Marry! expressing surprise
Marry, what a fine horse that is — I have never seen such a beautiful animal.
Marry, + question/clause for emphasis
Marry! Such wonderful news — I must write to my brother at once.
Marry, young man, you speak the truth indeed, and I cannot argue against it.
文法句型
Marry! (standalone exclamation)
用法筆記
This exclamation originated as a mild oath meaning 'by the Virgin Mary' and was common in Elizabethan and Shakespearean English. Modern readers encounter it mostly in historical fiction, classic literature, or period films. It should not be used in contemporary writing or speech.