design
Americanverb (used with object)
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designs,
present (3rd person singular)
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designed,
past participle, past
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designing
present participle
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to prepare the preliminary sketch or the plans for (a work to be executed), especially to plan the form and structure of.
to design a new bridge.
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to plan and fashion artistically or skillfully.
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to intend for a definite purpose.
a scholarship designed for foreign students.
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to form or conceive in the mind; contrive; plan.
The prisoner designed an intricate escape.
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to assign in thought or intention; purpose.
He designed to be a doctor.
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Obsolete. to mark out, as by a sign; indicate.
verb (used without object)
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designs,
present (3rd person singular)
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designed,
past participle, past
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designing
present participle
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to make drawings, preliminary sketches, or plans.
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to plan and fashion the form and structure of an object, work of art, decorative scheme, etc.
noun
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designs
plural
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an outline, sketch, or plan, as of the form and structure of a work of art, an edifice, or a machine to be executed or constructed.
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organization or structure of formal elements in a work of art; composition.
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the combination of details or features of a picture, building, etc.; the pattern or motif of artistic work.
the design on a bracelet.
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the art of designing.
a school of design.
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a plan or project.
a design for a new process.
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a plot or intrigue, especially an underhand, deceitful, or treacherous one.
His political rivals formulated a design to unseat him.
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designs, a hostile or aggressive project or scheme having evil or selfish motives.
He had designs on his partner's stock.
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intention; purpose; end.
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adaptation of means to a preconceived end.
verb
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to work out the structure or form of (something), as by making a sketch, outline, pattern, or plans
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to plan and make (something) artistically or skilfully
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(tr) to form or conceive in the mind; invent
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(tr) to intend, as for a specific purpose; plan
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obsolete (tr) to mark out or designate
noun
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a plan, sketch, or preliminary drawing
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the arrangement or pattern of elements or features of an artistic or decorative work
the design of the desk is Chippendale
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a finished artistic or decorative creation
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the art of designing
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a plan, scheme, or project
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an end aimed at or planned for; intention; purpose
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(often plural; often foll by on or against) a plot or hostile scheme, often to gain possession of (something) by illegitimate means
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a coherent or purposeful pattern, as opposed to chaos
God's design appears in nature
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philosophy another name for teleological argument
Usage
What is a basic definition of design? Design means to create a plan or sketch of something that is going to be made later, especially a plan that details what the finished thing will do and look like. A design is the plan or sketch created as a result of this activity. Design also means to intend something for a specific purpose. Design has several other senses as a verb and a noun. Design means to sketch something out and draw up a plan of how the finished project will look and function. For example, the government will have a team design a new bridge before actually building it. This means that someone will draw a sketch of what they want the bridge to look like and determine how much weight they want the bridge to hold. The people who actually build the bridge will consult this plan to guide them in the construction. A person who makes these preliminary sketches is called a designer. Real-life examples: Architects design new buildings. Mattel and Hasbro design new toys. Microsoft and Apple frequently design new computers and gadgets. Used in a sentence: The engineer designed a new type of airplane wing. A design is the actual sketch or drawing that a person who is designing something creates. On the internet, you can find some early and original designs of many popular products we use today. Often, these early designs are quite different from the final product. Used in a sentence: The scientists were working on a design for a new type of spacecraft. Design also means to intend something for a specific purpose. Real-life examples: Hats are designed to be worn on the head. A lawnmower is designed to cut grass. Cars are not designed for driving underwater. Used in a sentence: The ad campaign was designed to attract more teenage fans.
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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self-designnoun
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overdesignverb
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redesignverb
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outdesignverb (used with object)
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predesignverb (used with object)
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underdesignverb (used with object)
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designableadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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designsimple
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designssimple
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have designedperfect
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has designedperfect
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am designingprogressive
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are designingprogressive
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is designingprogressive
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have been designingperfect progressive
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has been designingperfect progressive
Past
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designedsimple
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had designedperfect
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was designingprogressive
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were designingprogressive
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had been designingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of design
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English designen, from Latin dēsignāre “to mark out”; see de-, sign
Explanation
To design is to conceive, create, sketch out, or invent something. An architect might design a new apartment building, and an inventor might design a new smart phone. Charles Eames, famous designer of fancy modern chairs, said "Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose." That's a broad definition, but then again, design is a broad field. School kids design book report posters, engineers design bridges, and politicians design arguments against their opponents. If you really want to explore design, take some time to examine the expert layout of a Picasso painting.
Vocabulary lists containing design
Engineering - Introductory
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Academy Awards, List 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
These medical applications remain under development, but the discovery offers researchers a molecular design that would have been difficult to imagine without studying nature's existing solutions.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026
Janae Pettit, a design consultant from Utah, came across the invitation on 1 April.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
S&P Dow Jones has since tweaked its index design to make such changes less disruptive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Wolf hopes AwareCA — the first statewide version of its Aware app design — marks the start of a new era for emergency communication across the United States.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
The design was still only sketches and numbers and symbols.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
McGee’s own work is also in dialogue with itself: Geometric patterns, inspired in part by Islamic tile designs, share the canvas with his trademark male faces with drooping, melancholic eyes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
Raman explains that thinner designs could reduce manufacturing costs while potentially improving movement efficiency.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026
The company suspected the trio of leaking to an external AI safety researcher information about one of OpenAI’s most closely guarded secrets: the internal designs of its artificial intelligence models.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
Following a Mesoamerican tradition, farm workers used to etch simple geometric designs into thick paper made from tree bark.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
When can we test our egg designs by dropping them out of a third-story window?
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
It’s designed to honor the memory of cherished animal companions that have passed away, and all Zoo guests may participate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2026
The effect, says Ordway, is reminiscent of a start-up entrepreneur, designed to appeal to an urban, working-class electorate.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
The development is installing a wave machine designed by Kelly Slater Wave, and actor Matthew McConaughey, skateboarder Tony Hawk and ex-NFL quarterback Drew Brees are all members there.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026
Horror’s surge has also yielded more films designed to play with our perception as opposed to the “Saw”-style torture porn dominating years past.
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2026
“He designed Scion so it was bad for business but good for investing.”
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
"Synthetic sensors and switches have many possible applications, both in treating disease and in designing experiments to better understand how certain diseases operate."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026
They identify a potentially useful strategy for designing metals that can remain tough even when conventional methods of deformation stop working, opening new possibilities for technologies that must operate in extreme cold.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026
As Intterra began hearing both the admiration fire chiefs had for Watch Duty and their frustration with it, the company started designing the Aware app.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
The terms of the deal are complex, but it boils down to this: Broadcom and Google are designing the chips, which will be manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
We believe we’re designing a computer RPG game, but we’ve been doing it for two years and it never seems any closer to completion.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
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