adapt
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
-
(often foll by to) to adjust (someone or something, esp oneself) to different conditions, a new environment, etc
-
(tr) to fit, change, or modify to suit a new or different purpose
to adapt a play for use in schools
Related Words
See adjust.
Other Word Forms
- adaptability noun
- adaptable adjective
- adaptedness noun
- adaptive adjective
- misadapt verb
- nonadapting adjective
- readapt verb (used with object)
- unadapted adjective
- well-adapted adjective
Etymology
Origin of adapt
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin adaptāre “to fit, adjust,” perhaps via French adapter; ad-, apt
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.
The strain's resistance profile suggests that bacteria adapted to cold environments could serve as reservoirs of resistance genes, which are segments of DNA that enable survival when exposed to antibiotics.
From Science Daily
Unlike treatments that supply oxygen only at the surface, this gel adapts to the exact shape of a wound.
From Science Daily
“So we’ll look closely at the exact consequences, what can be done, and we will adapt.”
From Los Angeles Times
"There's still so much to learn about how the whole body adapts to changes in oxygen, and how we could leverage these mechanisms to treat a range of conditions."
From Science Daily
The Spanish noun for them is “desaparecidos,” and English has adapted the word as “the disappeared.”
From Los Angeles Times
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.
