. A secret organization in the United States, formed in Iowa in 1887, ostensibly for the protection of American institutions by keeping Roman Catholics out of public office. Abbrev. commonly to A. P .A. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. i. 1. To unite in company; to keep company, implying intimacy; as, congenial minds are disposed to associate. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To unite in action, or to be affected by the action of a different part of the body. E. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Associated p. pr. & vb. n. Associating ] [ L. associatus, p. p. of associare; ad + sociare to join or unite, socius companion. See Social. ] 1. To join with one, as a friend, companion, partner, or confederate; as, to associate others with us in business, or in an enterprise. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To join or connect; to combine in acting; as, particles of gold associated with other substances. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To connect or place together in thought. [ 1913 Webster ]

He succeeded in associating his name inseparably with some names which will last as long as our language. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To accompany; to keep company with. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Friends should associate friends in grief and woe. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. associatus, p. p. ] 1. Closely connected or joined with some other, as in interest, purpose, employment, or office; sharing responsibility or authority; as, an associate judge. [ 1913 Webster ]

While I descend . . . to my associate powers. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Admitted to some, but not to all, rights and privileges; as, an associate member. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Physiol.) Connected by habit or sympathy; as, associate motions, such as occur sympathetically, in consequence of preceding motions. E. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A companion; one frequently in company with another, implying intimacy or equality; a mate; a fellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A partner in interest, as in business; or a confederate in a league. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One connected with an association or institution without the full rights or privileges of a regular member; as, an associate of the Royal Academy. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Anything closely or usually connected with another; an concomitant. [ 1913 Webster ]

The one [ idea ] no sooner comes into the understanding, than its associate appears with it. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Companion; mate; fellow; friend; ally; partner; coadjutor; comrade; accomplice. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Joined as a companion; brought into association; accompanying; combined. [ 1913 Webster ]

Associated movements (Physiol.), consensual movements which accompany voluntary efforts without our consciousness. Dunglison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. an associate degree conferred for successful studies in applied science.
Syn. -- AAS [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. a college degree granted for successful completion of a two-year course of study in arts or general topics.
Syn. -- AA [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The state of an associate, as in Academy or an office. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. association, LL. associatio, fr. L. associare. ] 1. The act of associating, or state of being associated; union; connection, whether of persons of things. “Some . . . bond of association.” Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

Self-denial is a kind of holy association with God. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Mental connection, or that which is mentally linked or associated with a thing. [ 1913 Webster ]

Words . . . must owe their powers association. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Why should . . . the holiest words, with all their venerable associations, be profaned? Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Union of persons in a company or society for some particular purpose; as, the American Association for the Advancement of Science; a benevolent association. Specifically, as among the Congregationalists, a society, consisting of a number of ministers, generally the pastors of neighboring churches, united for promoting the interests of religion and the harmony of the churches. [ 1913 Webster ]

Association of ideas (Physiol.), the combination or connection of states of mind or their objects with one another, as the result of which one is said to be revived or represented by means of the other. The relations according to which they are thus connected or revived are called the law of association. Prominent among them are reckoned the relations of time and place, and of cause and effect. Porter. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Of or pertaining to association, or to an association. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Pertaining to the theory held by the associationists. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Philos.) The doctrine or theory held by associationists. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Philos.) One who explains the higher functions and relations of the soul by the association of ideas; e. g., Hartley, J. C. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having the quality of associating; tending or leading to association; as, the associative faculty. Hugh Miller. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An associate; a confederate or partner in any scheme. [ 1913 Webster ]

How Pennsylvania's air agrees with Quakers,
And Carolina's with associators. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disassociated p. pr. & vb. n. Disassociating ] To disconnect from things associated; to disunite; to dissociate. Florio. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A federally chartered corporation that purchases and resells mortgages. [ acron. ]
Syn. -- FNMA, Fannie Mae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. i. (psychoanalysis) to express one's thoughts, ideas, impressions, etc. in an unplanned and unstructured way, allowing each thought or idea to prompt recollection of the next one. It is a process used in psychotherapy.
Syn. -- associate freely. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (psychoanalysis) The act or process of free-associating. It is a technique used in psychoanalysis and is supposed to allow the analyst access to the unconscious thoughts of the analysand. See free-associate. [ PJC ]

adj. not associative. Opposite of associative. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. & i. To associate again; to bring again into close relations. [ 1913 Webster ]

. An organization for promoting the spiritual, intellectual, social, and physical welfare of young men, founded, June 6, 1844, by George Williams (knighted therefor by Queen Victoria) in London. In 1851 it extended to the United States and Canada, and in 1855 representatives of similar organizations throughout Europe and America formed an international body. The movement has successfully expanded not only among young men in general, but also specifically among railroad men, in the army and navy, with provision for Indians and negroes, and a full duplication of all the various lines of oepration in the boys' departments. It currently (1998) maintains buildings which usually have both recreational facilities and dormitories for dwelling. It is usually called by its acronym YMCA. See also the similar organizations Young Women's Christian Association and YMHA. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

. An organization for promoting the spiritual, intellectual, social, and economic welfare of young women, originating in 1855 with Lady Kinnaird's home for young women, and Miss Emma Robert's prayer union for young women, in England, which were combined in the year 1884 as a national association. Now nearly all the civilized countries, and esp. the United States, have local, national, and international organizations. See also the similar organizations Young Men's Christian Association and YMHA. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]