publish
Americanverb (used with object)
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to issue (printed or otherwise reproduced textual or graphic material, computer software, etc.) for sale or distribution to the public.
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to issue publicly the work of.
Random House publishes Faulkner.
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to submit (content) online, as to a message board or blog.
I published a comment on her blog post with examples from my own life.
They publish a new webcomic once a month.
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to announce formally or officially; proclaim; promulgate.
- Antonyms:
- conceal
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to make publicly or generally known.
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Law. to communicate (a defamatory statement) to some person or persons other than the person defamed.
verb (used without object)
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to issue newspapers, books, computer software, etc.; engage in publishing.
The new house will start to publish next month.
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to have one's work published.
She has decided to publish with another house.
verb
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to produce and issue (printed or electronic matter) for distribution and sale
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(intr) to have one's written work issued for publication
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(tr) to announce formally or in public
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(tr) to communicate (defamatory matter) to someone other than the person defamed
to publish a libel
Synonym Usage
See announce.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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publishingnoun
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mispublishedadjective
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nonpublishableadjective
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publishableadjective
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unpublishableadjective
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unpublishedadjective
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well-publishedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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publishsimple
-
publishessimple
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have publishedperfect
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has publishedperfect
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am publishingprogressive
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are publishingprogressive
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is publishingprogressive
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have been publishingperfect progressive
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has been publishingperfect progressive
Past
-
publishedsimple
-
had publishedperfect
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was publishingprogressive
-
were publishingprogressive
-
had been publishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of publish
1300–50; Middle English publisshen < Anglo-French *publiss-, long stem of *publir, for Middle French publier < Latin pūblicāre to make public
Explanation
Anyone can write something just for themselves. If you publish your writing, it's available to others. For a writer, to publish is about the best thing there is. Like a lot of words, publish is used in a few ways. When a writer publishes six articles, six pieces of his or her writing have been accepted for publication in books or magazines. When a company publishes an article or book, it actually prints it up and sells it to the public. If you write a blog, you can also say that you publish your writing. Or, a teacher can publish a magazine of student writing just for her class.
Vocabulary lists containing publish
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Writing - Middle School
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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:
He believes that the companies that create AI apps and the platforms used to publish fake videos and other material must be held legally accountable along with the people who create misinformation.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
While Damodaran might publish one or two valuations a month, the bot can run that same analysis across the entire S&P 500 with the push of a button.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
The agency is required by Congress to publish data every other week, but hadn’t since early April.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
The justices publish their opinions a few dozen times a year.
From Slate ● Jul. 18, 2026
If the editors were told that a British article was of above-average interest, they would try to publish the manuscript almost immediately.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
The agency publishes a schedule of what days and times to expect the ritual, based on moon cycles and the timing at San Pedro’s Cabrillo Beach, a known grunion hotspot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Sharma is cutting the number of games Microsoft publishes and is investing more in its most popular franchises, including Minecraft, Candy Crush and Fallout.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
They have claimed that the newspaper group, which publishes the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, used unlawful methods for getting information for stories - allegations that have been strenuously denied by the publishers.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
The post was also shared by a page with more than two million followers that frequently publishes pro-military and nationalist commentary.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
“You know if he publishes the silly thing everyone will know why we wrote it.”
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
“Brazil’s destiny is for Brazilians alone to determine—without foreign interference or subservience,” da Silva wrote in an opinion article published in the Washington Post over the weekend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Late last week, prosecutors published dozens of text messages taken from the phone that showed Burke impregnated Hernandez, leading to an abortion in early 2024.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
“The current setup resembles early-to-mid 2021, when leadership shifted toward quality after an early-cycle rebound post-covid,” strategists at the investment bank led by Michael Wilson wrote in a note published Monday.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
The research, published in Communications Psychology, examined more than 3,700 descriptions of dreams and waking experiences from 287 people between the ages of 18 and 70.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
In 1993, a study by Rauscher et al. was published, which looked at the possible correlations between listening to different types of music and intelligence.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
Wasserman, a former book editor of the Los Angeles Times, is publisher of Heyday Books, a nonprofit, independent publishing house founded in 1974 in Berkeley.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Following the publishing of Chey’s letter, Roh had told friends she would defend her household, keep the family together and resist granting a divorce.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
The £340m programme announced by Burnham follows the government of former PM Sir Keir Starmer publishing a national plan to end homelessness in December.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
The cause can be hidden or buried, says Dr Itamar Shatz, a lecturer at Cambridge University who is publishing a book on the subject this week.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
When I told my stepfather about Doubleday publishing The Freedom Writers’ Diary, you can imagine his response.
From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers
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.
