perform
Americanverb (used with object)
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to perform miracles.
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to go through or execute in the proper, customary, or established manner.
to perform the marriage ceremony.
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to carry into effect; fulfill.
Perform what you promise.
- Synonyms:
- effect, achieve, accomplish
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to enact (a play, part, etc.), as on the stage, in movies, or on television.
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to render (music), as by playing or singing.
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to accomplish (any action involving skill or ability), as before an audience.
to perform a juggling act.
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to complete.
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to exhibit behaviors associated with (a particular social role or identity).
This study investigates the ways in which biracial Americans perform race in their day-to-day lives.
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to behave in ways that exhibit (a socially acceptable belief, trait, or quality), often merely for show.
Nineteenth-century British women found in the antislavery movement a perfect way to perform empathy.
verb (used without object)
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to fulfill a command, promise, or undertaking.
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to execute or do something.
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to act in a play.
to perform in the role of Romeo.
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to perform music.
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to go through any performance.
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(of loans, investments, etc.) to yield a profit; earn income.
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to have sexual intercourse.
I could not perform in my first intimate encounter with the love of my life.
verb
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to carry out or do (an action)
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(tr) to fulfil or comply with
to perform someone's request
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to present or enact (a play, concert, etc) before or otherwise entertain an audience
the group performed Hamlet
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informal (intr) to accomplish sexual intercourse
he performed well
Related Words
Perform, discharge, execute, transact mean to carry to completion a prescribed course of action. Perform is the general word, often applied to ordinary activity as a more formal expression than do, but usually implying regular, methodical, or prolonged application or work: to perform an exacting task. Discharge implies carrying out an obligation, often a formal or legal one: to discharge one's duties as a citizen. Execute means either to carry out an order or to carry through a plan or program: to execute a maneuver. Transact, meaning to conduct or manage, has commercial connotations: to transact business.
Other Word Forms
- misperform verb
- overperform verb
- performable adjective
- performer noun
- reperform verb (used with object)
- self-performed adjective
- unperformable adjective
- unperformed adjective
- unperforming adjective
- well-performed adjective
Etymology
Origin of perform
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English parformen, from Anglo-French parformer, alteration (by association with forme form ) of Middle French, Old French parfournir “to accomplish”; per-, furnish
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.
While no one can control how their investments will perform, you can set goals for how much you save and invest.
From MarketWatch
It might surprise some investors to see that an actively managed ETF holding about 180 stocks has performed so well during its first year.
From MarketWatch
Part of that is because developing driverless software that performs better than humans is a laborious effort that can take years.
From MarketWatch
I’d also perform for her clients, who urged my mother to put me in community theater.
“A seller cannot back out if the buyers have fully performed their obligations,” she said.
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.
