achieve

American

[uh-cheev] / əˈtʃiv /

verb (used with object)

achieved, achieving

to bring to a successful end; carry through; accomplish.

The police crackdown on speeders achieved its purpose.

Synonyms:

reach, realize, execute, effect, complete, consummate
to get or attain by effort; gain; obtain.

to achieve victory.

Synonyms:

win, realize

verb (used without object)

achieved, achieving

to bring about an intended result; accomplish some purpose or effect.

achieve British

/ əˈtʃiːv /

verb

to bring to a successful conclusion; accomplish; attain
to gain as by hard work or effort

to achieve success

"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

Related Words

See do ¹.

Other Word Forms

achievable adjective
achiever noun
outachieve verb (used with object)
preachieved adjective
superachiever noun
unachievable adjective
unachieved adjective
well-achieved adjective

Etymology

Origin of achieve

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English acheven, from Old French achever “to finish,” from phrase a chef “to (the) head,” i.e., “to conclusion”; chief

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.

Tudor was given the Juventus job on a permanent basis after achieving Champions League football with a run of just one defeat in nine at the end of the 2024-25 season.

From BBC

Artificial and impure, and achieved by doing something only slightly resembling basketball.

From Los Angeles Times

A hefty valuation at much more than $10 billion could be tough to achieve.

From Barron's

Towards the end of our interview, I asked Suranovas what he thought Russia had wanted to achieve.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023