Associate is used before a rank or title to indicate a slightly different or lower rank or title.
Mr Lin is associate director of the Institute.
林先生是该研究所的副主任。
associates
Your associates are the people you are closely connected with, especially at work.
the restaurant owner's business associates.
该餐馆老板的商业伙伴们。
associates , associating , associated
If you associate someone or something with another thing, the two are connected in your mind.
Through science we've got the idea of associating progress with the future.
通过科学我们已有了将进步与未来联系起来的观念。
If you are associated with a particular organization, cause or point of view, or if you associate yourself with it, you support it publicly.
I haven't been associated with the project over the last year.
我过去一年不曾跟这个项目有关联。
If you say that someone is associating with another person or group of people, you mean they are spending a lot of time in the company of people you do not approve of.
What would they think if they knew that they were associating with a murderer?
如果他们知道了自己正与一个杀人犯打成一片会怎么想?