analyse
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to examine in detail in order to discover meaning, essential features, etc
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to break down into components or essential features
to analyse a financial structure
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to make a mathematical, chemical, grammatical, etc, analysis of
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another word for psychoanalyse
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of analyse
C17: back formation from analysis
Explanation
To analyse (analyze is U.S. English) something is to consider it in detail so you can figure out its workings or meaning. Analyse comes from Greek roots meaning "loosen." If you analyse something, it's as if you're untying it and letting the different parts separate so that you can study them. If you've got some mystery substance, you can analyse it by performing chemical reactions to break it into its parts. If you analyse a poem, you look at it word-by-word and even sound-by-sound. But remember that analyse is a British spelling, with analyze as the American version.
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 added: "I know that probably I have to take the right decisions for them to show their best level, so it's something that I will analyse and learn from today."
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
The Bengaluru-based startup Dognosis is using AI to analyse dogs' brain activity, respiration and body language -- turning their reaction to scent into data.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
The Jewish way of thinking "helped me to analyse the conflict and what I wanted to do, and how I want to be involved in this conflict in a different way", he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
Today, McCormick is busy chasing after athletes to take blood lactate levels in between their efforts, and she will continue to process and analyse them long after the session has ended.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
But it was interesting, once I started to analyse and sort the examples, to discover that the greengrocer’s apostrophe formed just one depressing category of the overall, total, mind-bogglingly depressing misuse of the apostrophe.
From "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Author
The mountain section whose collapse triggered fatal floods in Nepal and China on August 26 had experienced unprecedented heat for the time of year, meteorological data analysed by a researcher shows.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
"I believe there is the potential that had we received that evidence and analysed it, that we would have been able to put the pieces of the puzzle together much more quickly."
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Ismail Fahmi, founder of data analytics company Media Kernels Indonesia, analysed about 29,000 social media posts between July and August and uncovered a campaign that amplified threats of looting and unrest, while downplaying protesters' demands.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
No data centre operator analysed in a recent report by Greenpeace Australia Pacific adequately proved their claim of driving the country's renewable energy growth.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Radio programmes analysed the merits of different interpretations of the same pieces, while there were always new reasons to hear, say, Mozart afresh, thanks to the selling point of newly researched performance techniques.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
After Omar al-Bayoumi's release, agents continued analysing the evidence against him.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
By analysing Spurs' tactics in pre-season, recent transfer market dealings make more sense.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
AFP therefore complemented the global picture by independently analysing data from the European Copernicus programme.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
The short, dramatic flash it created would have been hard to catch by amateur astronomers even with high-end telescopes, but larger observatories in the Americas are analysing the information.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
He returns to them again and again, analysing their sources, describing their characteristics, indicating the mischief they work, and offering a reasoned and solid confutation.
From A Mediaeval Mystic A Short Account of the Life and Writings of Blessed John Ruysbroeck, Canon Regular of Groenendael A.D. 1293-1381 by Vincent Scully
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.
