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 boys, then aged between five and 12, spent several months away from home shooting Lord of the Flies, which has been adapted for TV for the first time.
From BBC
Done correctly, this could be brilliant — a completely fresh and unexpected way to adapt an oft-remade story.
From Salon
By the early 1930s, Bing Crosby had created a distinctively American vocal style—low-key, expressive—which was adapted by Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra.
Researchers used a scale called Joint Savoring in Romantic Relationships, adapted from the widely used Savoring Beliefs Inventory, which assesses how individuals savor positive moments.
From Science Daily
"So he's had to adapt his game a little to hit it in different areas, because they try to stop him from hitting that shot."
From Barron's
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.
