establish
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to found, institute, build, or bring into being on a firm or stable basis.
to establish a university; to establish a medical practice.
- Antonyms:
- abolish
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to install or settle in a position, place, business, etc..
to establish one's child in business.
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to show to be valid or true; prove.
to establish the facts of the matter.
- Synonyms:
- substantiate, verify
- Antonyms:
- disprove
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to cause to be accepted or recognized.
to establish a custom; She established herself as a leading surgeon.
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to bring about permanently.
to establish order.
-
to enact, appoint, or ordain for permanence, as a law; fix unalterably.
- Synonyms:
- decree
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to make (a church) a national or state institution.
-
Cards. to obtain control of (a suit) so that one can win all the subsequent tricks in it.
verb
-
to make secure or permanent in a certain place, condition, job, etc
to establish one's usefulness
to establish a house
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to create or set up (an organization, etc) on or as if on a permanent basis
to establish a company
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to prove correct or free from doubt; validate
to establish a fact
-
to cause (a principle, theory, etc) to be widely or permanently accepted
to establish a precedent
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to give (a Church) the status of a national institution
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(of a person) to become recognized and accepted
he established himself as a reliable GP
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(in works of imagination) to cause (a character, place, etc) to be credible and recognized
the first scene established the period
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cards to make winners of (the remaining cards of a suit) by forcing out opponents' top cards
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(also intr) botany
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to cause (a plant) to grow or (of a plant) to grow in a new place
the birch scrub has established over the past 25 years
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to become or cause to become a sapling or adult plant from a seedling
-
Related Words
See fix.
Other Word Forms
- establishable adjective
- establisher noun
- reestablish verb (used with object)
- superestablish verb (used with object)
- unestablishable adjective
Etymology
Origin of establish
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English establissen, establishen, from Middle French establiss-, extended stem of establir, from Latin stabilīre, derivative of stabilis stable 2
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.
In order to open a full field investigation into a target, an agent would then need to establish an “articulable factual basis” for belief that a federal crime may be occurring.
From Salon • Apr. 6, 2026
Today, Kanekar is the founder of Platypus Technologies, which provides advisory services to organizations looking to establish an FDE team.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 4, 2026
While Brentford have since gone on to establish themselves in the Premier League, Vale have never played in the top flight.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
These discoveries helped establish that life can exist without sunlight, reshaping scientific understanding of extreme environments.
From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026
Mason, along with Thomas Hastings, went on to establish the first public school music program in Boston, beginning with the Boston Singing School, which taught children singing under his methodology.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
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.
