[countable] a person that you work with or do business with; a business partner同事；伙伴；合伙人◆one of my business associates我的业务伙伴之一◆a senior associate高级合伙人Associates used in the name of an organization to show there are a number of professional partners合伙公司（用于机构名称，表示有多位专业合伙人）◆Carver & Associates卡文公司a member of an organization who does not have all the rights of ordinary members非正式成员；准成员◆Some MBA students are summer associates at the company.一些 MBA 学生暑期在公司兼职。