design

American  

[dih-zahyn] / dɪˈzaɪn /

verb (used with object)

• designs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• designed,
  past participle,  past
• designing
  present participle

1. 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.

2. to plan and fashion artistically or skillfully.

3. to intend for a definite purpose.

   a scholarship designed for foreign students.

4. to form or conceive in the mind; contrive; plan.

   The prisoner designed an intricate escape.

5. to assign in thought or intention; purpose.

   He designed to be a doctor.

6. Obsolete. to mark out, as by a sign; indicate.

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verb (used without object)

• designs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• designed,
  past participle,  past
• designing
  present participle

1. to make drawings, preliminary sketches, or plans.

2. to plan and fashion the form and structure of an object, work of art, decorative scheme, etc.

noun

• designs
  plural

1. 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.

2. organization or structure of formal elements in a work of art; composition.

3. the combination of details or features of a picture, building, etc.; the pattern or motif of artistic work.

   the design on a bracelet.

4. the art of designing.

   a school of design.

5. a plan or project.

   a design for a new process.

6. a plot or intrigue, especially an underhand, deceitful, or treacherous one.

   His political rivals formulated a design to unseat him.

7. designs, a hostile or aggressive project or scheme having evil or selfish motives.

   He had designs on his partner's stock.

8. intention; purpose; end.

9. adaptation of means to a preconceived end.

design British  

/ dɪˈzaɪn /

verb

1. to work out the structure or form of (something), as by making a sketch, outline, pattern, or plans

2. to plan and make (something) artistically or skilfully

3. (tr) to form or conceive in the mind; invent

4. (tr) to intend, as for a specific purpose; plan

5. obsolete (tr) to mark out or designate

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noun

1. a plan, sketch, or preliminary drawing

2. the arrangement or pattern of elements or features of an artistic or decorative work

   the design of the desk is Chippendale

3. a finished artistic or decorative creation

4. the art of designing

5. a plan, scheme, or project

6. an end aimed at or planned for; intention; purpose

7. (often plural; often foll by on or against) a plot or hostile scheme, often to gain possession of (something) by illegitimate means

8. a coherent or purposeful pattern, as opposed to chaos

   God's design appears in nature

9. philosophy another name for teleological argument

design Idioms  

1. see by design; have designs on.

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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

See intend. See plan.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• self-design
  noun
• overdesign
  verb
• redesign
  verb
• outdesign
  verb (used with object)
• predesign
  verb (used with object)
• underdesign
  verb (used with object)
• designable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• designs
  plural

Participles

• designing
  present
• designed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• design
  simple
• designs
  simple
• have designed
  perfect
• has designed
  perfect
• am designing
  progressive
• are designing
  progressive
• is designing
  progressive
• have been designing
  perfect progressive
• has been designing
  perfect progressive

Past

• designed
  simple
• had designed
  perfect
• was designing
  progressive
• were designing
  progressive
• had been designing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will design
  simple
• will have designed
  perfect
• will be designing
  progressive
• will have been designing
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

design designs designed designing

At Versace, Vitale was also the first non-family member to oversee design, taking the reins from Donatella Versace -- sister of founder Gianni Versace -- in April 2025.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

The tech giant recently hosted its most consequential product event in years, with the first truly new design since Steve Jobs held up the first smartphone.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

“In addition, the Korean entities’ U.S.-specific design supported the conclusion that they purposefully directed the defective vehicles to California.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

The work was requested by the GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Corporation, and GunaiKurnai representatives were involved in the research design, fieldwork, interpretation, and communication of the findings.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

“All I do is herd the kids from one place to the other and give them ice packs if they get hurt. Sylvie’s letting Amber design a whole unit.”

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

One of its proposals is to review and standardize the designs of ballot envelopes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

And following the rise of gold prices, some designers incorporated wood, ceramic and titanium into their designs.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

The New York Times noted that Mackie tried and failed to gain acceptance for his designs "from the frosty corridors of high fashion," but Mackie said he had no regrets for embracing glitz.

From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026

Mackie was still designing up until recently - Sabrina Carpenter wore one of his designs at the MTV Video Music Awards last year.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

The designs were basic colors like Easter eggs that no one in Tabriz would know.

From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri

AI should also be treated the same as airplanes and elevators, and should be designed to do the least harm possible, they say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

The containers, which will be housing around 2,000 of the guests and are designed to be reused as disaster evacuation facilities, have been beset by complaints.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

“The problem is that we designed this whole system just to maximize savings, maximize account value, and then you get to retirement, we hand the money back to you and say ‘good luck,’” Nefouse said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

The dot plot was originally designed to give a heads-up to the public about the Fed’s intentions in order to avoid bouts of instability in the economy.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

It was no ordinary coop, mind you, for the clever doctor had designed and built it himself.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

A ceiling on computing power, fewer frontier training runs or limits on AI systems designing their successors would strike much closer to the semiconductor industry.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

AIs are already being used to answer decades-long unsolved complex mathematical problems, and have assisted scientists in speeding up scientific discovery and even designing new viruses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Using this method, the team created a framework for designing ultrafast magnetic-field pulses that can switch magnetic states while consuming as little energy as possible.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026

Chief Executive Wen Han is restructuring Windrose to operate with fewer workers and pivot from designing truck bodies to developing software.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

It is as if a building he’d been responsible for designing has collapsed for all to see.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

Related Words

• architecture
• arrangement
• composition
• construction
• drawing
• form
• idea
• layout
• map
• method
• model
• pattern
• picture
• plan
• scheme
• study