vary
to change or alter, as in form, appearance, character, or substance: to vary one's methods.
to cause to be different from something else: The orchestra varied last night's program with one new selection.
to avoid or relieve from uniformity or monotony; diversify: to vary one's diet.
Music. to alter (a melody or theme) by modification or embellishments without changing its identity.
to show diversity; be different: The age at which children are ready to read varies.
to undergo change in appearance, form, substance, character, etc.: The landscape begins to vary as one drives south.
to change periodically or in succession; differ or alternate: Demand for certain products varies with the season.
to diverge; depart; deviate (usually followed by from): to vary from the norm.
Mathematics. to be subject to change.
Biology. to exhibit variation.
Origin of vary
1Other words for vary
Other words from vary
- var·i·er, noun
- var·y·ing·ly, adverb
- in·ter·var·y, verb (used without object), in·ter·var·ied, in·ter·var·y·ing.
- o·ver·var·y, verb, o·ver·var·ied, o·ver·var·y·ing.
- self-var·y·ing, adjective
- un·var·y·ing, adjective
- un·var·y·ing·ly, adverb
Words Nearby vary
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use vary in a sentence
Not surprisingly, rates for recovery vary enormously, from as low as three percent to upwards of 75 percent.
Such waivers vary from state to state, and within the same state there can be many types of waivers.
Medicaid Will Give You Money for At-Home Care, but You Might Wait Years | Elizabeth Picciuto | December 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTMy tasks vary from marketing to writing a page for a magazine.
Around Liberia, opinions as to whether the epidemic is slowing vary.
The WHO’s Big Asterisk on Liberia’s Ebola Case Decrease | Abby Haglage | October 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAlthough reports vary, it seems that most of the thousand or so soldiers at the base may have been captured or killed.
Iraqi Soldiers Bribe Officers So They Don't Have to Fight ISIS | Niqash | October 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Such are most probably given by the essential oils, which vary in amount in different species of the plant.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.They vary greatly in size, being sometimes so small as to seem mere points of light with medium-power objectives.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddThey all contain nuclei, and most of them contain granules which vary in size and staining properties.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddDifferent lots of Wright's fluid vary, and a few preliminary stains should be made with each lot to learn its peculiarities.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddPathologically, red corpuscles vary in size and shape, staining properties, and structure.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
British Dictionary definitions for vary
/ (ˈvɛərɪ) /
to undergo or cause to undergo change, alteration, or modification in appearance, character, form, attribute, etc
to be different or cause to be different; be subject to change
(tr) to give variety to
(intr foll by from) to differ, as from a convention, standard, etc
(intr) to change in accordance with another variable: her mood varies with the weather; pressure varies directly with temperature and inversely with volume
(tr) music to modify (a theme) by the use of variation
Origin of vary
1Derived forms of vary
- varying, adjective
- varyingly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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