significant other

Definitions

1. 1

   One's exclusive romantic partner.

   • Almost half of working women who are married or live with a partner are seeing their significant other only in passing because the two work different shifts, an AFL-CIO poll found.
   • More than half (57 percent) of consumers think it would be wonderfully romantic if their significant other booked tickets for a surprise international trip.
2. 2

   A person with whom one has an important bond of some kind.

   • Dr. Nogueira said it was always preferable to have coaches drawn from a school's staff because a coach "is a significant other" to a student.
   • As in the rest of the hospital, a family member or "significant other" such as a lover or close friend, is allowed to spend the night in a patient's room on a cot.
   • If your spouse, children or other significant others are still whining about all those holiday leftovers you made them eat, maybe it's time to spruce up your culinary skills.

The neighborhood