analyse
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to examine in detail in order to discover meaning, essential features, etc
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to break down into components or essential features
to analyse a financial structure
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to make a mathematical, chemical, grammatical, etc, analysis of
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another word for psychoanalyse
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of analyse
C17: back formation from analysis
Explanation
To analyse (analyze is U.S. English) something is to consider it in detail so you can figure out its workings or meaning. Analyse comes from Greek roots meaning "loosen." If you analyse something, it's as if you're untying it and letting the different parts separate so that you can study them. If you've got some mystery substance, you can analyse it by performing chemical reactions to break it into its parts. If you analyse a poem, you look at it word-by-word and even sound-by-sound. But remember that analyse is a British spelling, with analyze as the American version.
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:
But, he said, investigators have to hold scientific scepticism when they analyse notes like this - especially when they have so few words to work with.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
Quake magnitude figures are often updated as seismologists obtain and analyse new data.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
His staff logically analyse every match in detail and learn what the adjustments are.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Instead, after extending the consultation, the Minister announced plans to create a task-and-finish group to analyse the responses - more than 3,000 of them - and come back with new proposals.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
There will always be, I realize, those who would claim that any attempt to analyse greatness as I have been doing is quite futile.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
BBC Scotland has analysed some of the main costs for festival-goers to see if they really are paying more.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
The founder of intelligence analysis firm MAIAR, Tony Reeves, analysed satellite images and estimated that one section of the embankments in Gaza was up to 7m tall.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
"This Nvidia employee was identified as a person involved in the case after investigators analysed the relevant evidence following the previous round of searches targeting Super Micro," the source told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
His devices, which contained evidence of his extreme views, were seized after he was arrested in February and September but not analysed.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
“Detecting! You have analysed, then. And what did you detect, if not gratitude?”
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
After analysing the debris from the crash, Bulgaria's defence ministry however said that "currently, nothing suggests that this was a deliberate incident".
From Barron's ● Aug. 8, 2026
Authorities in Seoul and Washington were analysing the missile's exact specifications, it added in a message to news organisations.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
The short, dramatic flash it created would have been hard to catch by amateur astronomers even with high-end telescopes, but larger observatories in the Americas are analysing the information.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
After carrying out investigations and analysing video footage, police said they identified a 26-year-old man was connected to the case.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
Without analysing his feelings he was conscious of being greatly relieved by this positive evidence of Gabriel's shrewdness.
From Gabriel Conroy by Bert Harte
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
